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HX64068340 
R K29  C48  The  rise,  fall  and  r 


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Specimens   of  Aqcient   Dental  Art. 

(Copyrighted.) 


THE 

Rise,  Fall  and  Revival 


-OP- 


Dehtal  Prosthesis 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE 

BY 

B.  J.  CIGRAND,  B.  S.,  D.  D.  S., 

PROFESSOR  OF  DENTAL  PROSTHESIS    IN    THE    AMERICAN  COLLEGE  OF 
DENTAL  SURGERY. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST  OF  CLASS 
. ■ 189S — — X 

CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS. 


SEVERINGHAU5  &  BEILFUSS,   PRINTERS,  448  MILWAUKEE  AVENUE. 


4L-izimB 


En-.erad  accordirig  to  Act  of  Co^.gress  iqths  year  1392,  bjj 

Dr.  B.  J.  CIGRAND, 

in  the  office  of  t'qs  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  WasniPigton,  0.  C. 


Proem  to  Students. 


The  title  of  this  Lecture  is  so  fully  indicative  of 
its  character  that  scarcely  a  word  of  "Foretalk",  as  the 
Saxon  express  it,  seems  necessary.  As  this  is  my  initi- 
tatory  talk  to  you,  my  lecture  will  be  of  a  prefactory 
character,  in  inaugurating  the  course  in  Dental  Prosth- 
esis. All  that  is  requisite  by  way  of  preface  here,  is  to 
give  brief  account  of  the  within  contained  remarks. 
This  proem  may  at  the  same  time  serve  as  an  apology 
for  some  of  the  defects  of  which  the  author  is  fully  con- 
scious. 

Believing  it  necessary  that  the  dental  student  in 
beginning  the  study  of  his  chosen  profession,  should 
know  something  of  its  antique  birth,  growth  and  develop- 
ment, I  felt  it  a  duty  incumbant  on  myself  to  open  our 
acquaintance  by  cordially  introducing  to  you  the  history 
of  this  branch  of  dental  science. 

Knowing  full  well  that  many  of  you,  before  coming 
here,  had  little  knowledge  relative  to  this  interesting 
theme,  on  account  of  non-access  to  journals,  I  am  con- 
fident we  can  profitably  spend  our  first  hours. 

In  many  of   our   dental   schools,   during  the  entire 


THE  ,RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 


three  or  more  years  that  the  student  serves  within  its 
walls,  not  one  sentance  does  he  hear  concerning  the 
struggles  and  advancements  of  his  prehistoric  profes- 
sional forefathers;  and  sorry  to  say,  the  worthy  college 
from  which  I  hail  was  addicted  to  this  apparent  neglect. 

Many  months  have  been  spent  in  gleaning  the  con- 
tents of  this  lecture,  which  is  the  result  rather,  of  oc- 
casional moments  of  leisure  from  the  duties  of  an  active 
professional  life,  than  of  a  special  devotion  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  any  suberb  thesis  on  the  subject. 

Such  sources  of  information  were  consulted  as  were 
deemed  advantageous,  towards  compiling  and  complet- 
ing the  lecture.  Among  these  ^'helpmates"  I  gladly 
mention,  Cosmos,  Review,  Item  of  Interest,  and  many 
voluminous  references  in  the  various  Libraries. 

In  conclusion,  will  add,  should  this  published  re- 
search merit  a  dedicatoral  note,  I  am  certain  none  more 
worthily  deserve  the  inscription  than  my  many  kind 
and  thorough  instructors,  and  more  especially  Drs.  Has- 
kell and  Sherwood,  whose  untiring  devotion  has  placed 
them  in  my  memory's  safe  keeping. 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS 


Encouraging   Words. 


God    bless     those     Surgeons     and     Dentists  I 

May  their  good    deeds  be   returned  upon 

them  a  thousand   fold.       May    they 

have    the     felicity    in   the    next 

world    to    have    successfull 

operations      performed 

upon   them    at   all 

eternity. 

Washington  Irving. 


THE   RISE,   FALL   AND   REVIVAL 


TABULAR    EMBRACE 


—  OF  — 


LECTURE. 


I.  PROEM  TO  STUDENTS.  . 

II.  ENCOURAGING  WORDS. 

III.  DENTAL  PROSTHESIS— DEFINITION. 

IV.  EGYPTIAN  DENTAL   ART. 
V.  HEBREW  DENTAL  ART. 

VI.  CHINESE  DENTAL  ART. 

VII.  GREEK  DENTAL  ART. 

VIII,  ROMAN  DENTAL  ART. 

IX.  ETRURL\N  DENTAL  ART. 

X.  EUROPEAN  DENTAL  ART. 

XI.  AMERICAN  DENTAL  ART 

XII.  CONCLUSION. 


ntroductory  Lecture. 


AN    HISTORICAL   REVIEW   OF  DENTAL 
PROSTHESIS. 


To  the  faithful  dental  student,  who  is  ever 
yearning  for  fresh  draughts  of  information,  every 
subject  that  pertains  to  the  history  and  progress 
of  dental  science,  is  fraught  with  the  deepest  interest;, 
and  probably  no  features  in  the  annals  of  dentistry 
solicit  his  attention  sooner,  and  merit  such  sincere 
consideration  as  does  the  story  of  the  rise,  fall  and 
revival  of  dental  art.  The  dental  student  who  is  ig- 
norant of  the  beginning  of  the  trials  and  tribulations 
of  the  ancient  surgeon  dentist  is  not  unlike  the 
l^atriot  who  glories  in  the  triumphs  and  achiev- 
ments  of  his  native  land,  but  knows  not  of  the  making 
of  the  established  institution  he  so  fervently  loves^ 
such  patriotism  is  but  local  and   superficial   as  that. 

There  is  an  old  Arabian  maxim  which  says:  *'If 
you  are  about  to  acquaint  yourself  with  a  man,  first 
learn  where  he  was  born,  and  next  how  he  was  raised.'* 


8  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

And  the  good  advice  in  sentiment  might  well  be 
given  to  those  who  are  about  to  acquire  knowledge 
of  the  mysteries  of  the  arts  or  sciences,  namely  — 
first  learn  of  the  origin  of  the  sciences,  and  next  de- 
termine its  progress. 

Hence  in  this  mornings  talk  to  you  I  can  in  no 
safer  manner  inaugurate  the  course  than  by  gathering 
the  fragmentary  parts  of  dental  history,  and  present 
them  to  you  in  one  solid  unbroken  chain. 

That  we  may  clearly  understand  the  subject  let  us 
see  if  all  agree  as  to  the  meaning  of  Dental  Prosthe- 
sis. No  doubt  we  are  harmonious  when  we  analyze 
the  first  word  Dental,  and  say  it  is  of  Latin  origin, 
and  as  applied  here  is  the  simple  adjective  form  of 
the  Latin  noun  '•^de?ts"'  a  tooth.  But  we  are  apt  to 
differ  materially  as  to  the  rendering  of  Prosthesis; 
present  time  dictionaries  tell  us  that  this  word  is  of 
Greek  derivation  and  signifies  Add  to,  Replace  or  Re- 
store. 

Thus  the  term  Dental  Prosthesis  is  a  combi- 
nation of  two  words,  the  one  of  Latin,  the  other  of 
Greek  origin,  and  when  connected  in  their  literal 
sense  designates  Tooth  addition.  Tooth  replacement 
or  Tooth  restoration.  Dental  Prosthesis  would  seem 
to  imply  nearly  all  dental  operations,  since  litttle  else 
is  the   dentist  called  upon  to   do   other  than  replace^ 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS. 


add  to  and  restore  dental  organs.  This  would  mean, 
that  all  specialities  of  dentistry  are  branches  of  Den- 
tal Prosthesis,   which   in   fact   is  the  case  though  not 
generally   so   accepted.     Hence  if  the  dentist  fills  a 
crown  cavity  with  foil  or  plastics   he   simply  restores 
the   dental  organ   by  replacetne?tt\    if   he    crowns    a 
root  with  porcelain  or  gold  shell-crown,  he  again  re- 
sorts to  prosthetic  art,   and    restores  by   addition]  if 
he  replant  or   transplant  a   tooth  or   teeth  he  further 
follows  prosthesis  and  restores  by  replacement]   if  he 
attach   to  the  natural   teeth  several  artifical  ones  by 
means  of  a  system  of  bridge-work  he  but  restores  the 
denture  by    addition;    if    he    treat   with   the   aid    of 
medicinal  agencies  a  sore  tooth  he   similiarly  labors 
in  a  prosthetic  sense,  since  he  restores   the    tooth   to 
its    natural  health;  if  he  is  sought  to  relock  a  jaw  or 
aid  in  healing  a   fractured  maxilla  he   replaces    and 
restores,    thus  again  adopting  prosthetic    principals. 
There  are  but   two  operations,  of  which  I  now  think 
that  a  dentists  services  is   sought,  which  are  not  thor- 
oughly  prosthetic,   and  these  are    the  devitalization 
of  a  nerve  and  the  extraction  of  a  tooth.    Latest  au- 
thorities pronounce   the  custom  of  saying  Prosthetic 
Dentistry    as  incorrect,    and   should    be    designated 
Dental  Prosthesis,  Tooth  Replacement,  not  Replace- 
ment Tooth  as  in  the  former  remark. 


I'O  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

Dental  Prosthesis  is  tl;iat  branch  of  dental 
science  which  teaches  the  art  of  replacing  lost 
organs  of  the  mouth  or  any  part  thereof;  it  includes 
the  laws  and  principles  which  determine  and  regulate 
the  various  processes  employed  in  the  construction  of 
all  forms  of  dental  mechanism. 

The  word  may  be  spelled  P-r-o-s-t-h-e-s-i-s  or 
P-r-o-t-h-e-s-i-s,  when  written  with  letter  *^s"  in 
first  syllable  the  word  is  divided  into  three  syllables 
Pros-the-sis,  with  primary  accent  on  first,  and  sec- 
ondary accent  on  second  syllable,  and  all  vowel 
sounds  short,  except  "e". 

When  spelled  without  the  "s''  in  first  syllable 
the  syllabrication  is  markedly  different  although  con- 
taining also  three  syllables  thus:  Proth-e-sis,  with 
primary  accent  on  first  and  second  accent  on  last 
syllable,  and  all  vowel  sounds  short,  but  "e". 

The  profession  of  dentistry  is  generally  con- 
sidered a  modern  science,  but  on  careful  investiga- 
tion we  find  on  the  contrary  that  it  is  ancient  and 
there  is  abundant  evidence  to  show  that  the  art  is  of 
great  antiquity.  Although  it  is  less  than  a  century 
that  it  has  taken  the  rank  of  a  distinct  profession, 
attention  was  directed  from  the  earliest  period  to  the 
means    of  preserving   and    improving   the  beauty  of 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  1£ 

natural  teeth.  In  order  that  all  possible  doubt  be 
eliminated  as  to  its  antiquity  we  will  give  it  careful 
retrospect  and  in  no  small  measure  profit  from  the 
research. 

Of  the  origin  of  the  art  of  dentistry  no  one 
can  speak  with  certainty,  as  its  early  history  is 
shrowed  in  the  mists  of  oblivion,  but  dental  opera- 
tions are  recorded  in  very  remote  times. 


Egyptian  Dental  Art. 


Away  back  in  the  dim  centuries  when  myth- 
ology had  its  happy  reign,  and  historians  began  to 
chronicle  in  their  order  transpiring  events,  we  find 
dentistry  was  studied  and  practiced  wdth  great 
success.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  sunny  Egypt 
was  the  birth  place  of  ancient  dentistry,  at  any  rate 
the  Greek  historian  Herodotus  recites  that  the 
Egyptians  practiced  dental  art.  In  his  second 
book  narrating  his  travels  through  Egypt  he  states 
that  the  art  and  practice  of  medicine  w^as  divided 
among  the  Egyptian  priesthood,  each  physician  or 
surgeon    applying    himself   to  one  class  of    disease 


12  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

only;  some  to  the  head,  others  to  the  eye  and  others 
to  the  teeth.  And  although  little  is  known  of  the 
attainments  of  these  ancient  practioners  of  dentistry 
judging  by  the  work  deposited  in  some  of  the  tombs 
of  Egypt  one  would  willingly  conclude  that  the 
practioners  of  that  time  were  comparatively  learned 
and  highly  proficent  in  the  science  of  Dental  Pros- 
thesis. 

In  recent  dental  journals  we  are  informed  that 
in  one  of  the  royal  mummies  taken  from  the  cata- 
combs of  Egypt  a  set  of  artificial  teeth  was  discov- 
ered in  which  the  plate  was  of  wood  carved  to  fit  the 
roof  of  the  mouth,  while  the  teeth  which  were  of  brass 
were  ingeniously  attached. 

The  great  Egyptologist  Ebers  has  proven  that 
in  the  Egyptian  Medical  schools  they  had  special 
teachers  of  dentistry  upward  of  three  thousand  years 
ago. 

Had  Egyptian  universities  their  chairs  of  dental 
surgery  ?  If  so,  an  added  laurel  may  deck  the  fame 
of  the  "land  of  science  and  sacred  recollections." 

Exhumed,  from  the  time  worn  Egyptian  tombs 
antedating  the  records  of  Herodotus,  mouldering 
skeletons  present  arrays  of  gold  filled  teeth;  I  vouch 
not  for  the  authority  but  it  is  well  stated  that  the  art 
of  clasp  work  was  understood  to  some  exactness. 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  I3 

One  of  the  mummified  bodies  of  an  Egyptian 
Pharoah  demonstrates  most  conclusively  that  natural 
teeth  were  not  only  well  cared  for  in  the  way  of  gold 
and  lead  fillings,  but  that  the  fair  Pharaoh  had  per- 
haps by  accident  lost  one  of  his  incisors,  and  the 
court  dentist  did  the  best  he  could  and  carved  an 
ivory  tooth  of  similar  shape  to  the  lost  organ  and  by 
means  of  silk  ligatures  fastened  it  to  the  adjoining 
sound  ones. 


Hebrew  Dental  Art. 


The  Ancient  Plebrews  too  well  knew  the  worth 
of  teeth,  and  the  great  king  Solomon  wisely  nicknamed 
the  teeth  the  ''Millstones",  and  were  by  his  people 
recognized  as  the  motive  power  of  life.  Moses  legis- 
lated his  famous  law  known  as  "tooth  for  tooth",  an 
edict  which  was  altered  and  explained  in  the  Talmud 
to  mean  a  fine  or  penalty.  The  man  who  broke 
the  tooth  of  his  fellow  man  had  to  pay  the  un- 
fortunate a  sufficient  amount  of  money  for  damage 
done,  or  have  the  substitute  placed  at  the  cost  of  the 
aggressor. 


14  THE     RISE,    FALL    AXD    REVIVAL 

So  highly  did  the  Hebrews  vakie  a  natural 
tooth  that  if  a  master  broke  the  tooth  of  a  slave  the 
latter  was  set  at  liberty  on  account  of  his  great 
misfortune.  INlosaic  law  in  this  respect  was  in  force 
long  after  the  Christian  era,  as  the  following  from 
Talmud  says:  "Rabon  Gamliel  who  was  the  teacher 
of  the  Apostle  Paul,  had  a  slave  Tabi  by  name, 
and  as  he  was  anxious  to  set  him  at  liberty  for  ever, 
he  broke  his  slaves  tooth  that  the  latter  should  be 
free,  and  the  Rabbi  was  so  happy  the  day  of  his 
slaves  liberation,  that  he  gave  a  banquet  to  his  friends, 
besides  sending  his  slave  off  with  a  present."  , 

The  Talmudical  Folk  lore  says:  'Tf  a  man 
dreams  that  his  false  teeth  have  fallen  out.  it  is  a 
bad  omen  that  his  children  will  soon  die."  Indeed 
the  dental  profession  was  in  the  utmost  cultivation 
under  the  care  of  the  learned  sages,  of  the  Talmud 
and  modern  dentists  would  be  astonished  to  learn 
that  the  art  of  replacing  false  teeth  for  natural  ones 
was  practiced  among  the  Hebrews  more  than  two 
thousand  years  ago. 

Samuel  the  dentist  who  lived  after  the  destruct- 
ion was  the  house  physician  and  dentist  of  the 
famous  Rabbi  Jehuda  the  Saint.  The  latter  was 
often  afflicted  with  toothache  but  was  cured  by 
Samuel.     What    drug    this    Rabbical   dentist  used  is 


OF    DENIAL    PROSTHESIS. 


unknown,  but  according  to  the  Talmudical  narration 
it  must  have  been  chloroform  or  something  with 
similar  qualities.  Since  the  Rabbi's  suffering  was 
stopped  by  the  use  of  inhalation  of  anaesthetic 
fumes. 

Among  the  Hebrews  it  was  strictly  forbid- 
den by  law  to  carry  jewelery  or  precious  metals  or 
stones  on  the  Sabbath,  but  the  Talmud  wisely  allowed 
the  Jewish  women  ^^to  go  out  on  the  Sabbath  with 
her  false  golden  or  silver  teeth."  Some  Rabbis  al- 
lowed their  people  to  wear  the  silver  false  teeth 
since  these  appeared  natural,  but  the  use  of  golden 
false  teeth  on  Sabbath  were  prohibited. 


Chinese  Dental  Art. 


Following  up  closely  the  history  of  Dental  Art 
we  next  visit  the  land  of  tea.  The  Chinese  it  must 
be  remembered  were  in  ancient  days  a  persevering 
people  and  made  wonderful  advancement  in  the  arts 
and  especially  in  the  sciences.  In  medicine  and 
surgery  they  were  considered  preeminent.  Oae  of 
the  ancient  kinoes   of  China  instituted  a  free  medical 


1 6  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

school  for  those  citizens  who  were  inclined  to  study- 
medicine  or  its  many  branches."  Although  it  is 
very  difficult  to  obtain  facts  and  figures  of  ancient 
China  it  notwithstanding  fortunately  happens  that 
a  Chinese  MSS.  is  deposited  in  the  French  acad- 
emy of  science,  which  gives  much  information  as 
to  Chinese  methods  of  dental  practice.  In  this  pa- 
per we  are  told  that  the  court  dentists  ever  pre- 
served for  the  royality  the  entire  natural  denture 
and  kept  the  same  "clean  and  sweet.".  Tradition 
has  it,  the  paper  says,  that  the  native  China  dentist 
possessed  a  wonderful  powder  for  painless  extract- 
ions, the  same  is  rubbed  on  the  gums  over  an 
effected  tooth  and  after  an  interval  of  a  few  moments 
the  patient  was  requested  to  sneeze,  where  upon 
the  tooth  would  drop  from  the  jaw.  The  paper 
further  states  that  the  dentist  used  a  peculiar  pitch 
of  a  white  appearance,  and  this  was  used  to  restore 
decayed  teeth. 

Artificial  teeth  among  the  Chinese  of  medevial 
times  were  seldomly  worn,  since  the  dental  surgeon 
not  only  seemed  skilled  enough  to  preserve  them,  but 
the  Chinese  were  known  to  be  the  possessors  of 
sound  teeth.  We  now  leave  the  superstitious  China- 
man and  wander  to  the  land  oi  fair  maids. 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  1 7 


Arabian  Dental  Art. 


Although  the  Arab  thought  more  of  his  steed 
than  of  his  wife,  yet  he  did  not  fail  to  appreciate 
self  and  give  time  and  attention  to  the  '-pillars  of 
the  mouth",  as  he  called  the  teeth.  Among  the 
archives  of  tradition,  in  Arabia,  we  are  informed, 
that  the  augur  and  physician  Navius  Actius,  as  early 
as  300  A.  D.  discovered  the  foramina  in  the  roots 
through  which  the  nerves  and  vessels  enter  the  pulp 
chamber;  and  for  years  subsequent  to  this  discovery 
the  christian  world  was  ignorant  of  this  and  other  of 
his  important  finds. 

Another  Arabian  surgeon,  Aibacasis  b)-  name, 
was  recognized  to  be  a  great  and  preeminent  -'carver 
of  human  teeth".  This  famous  doctor  lived  about 
I  TOO  A.  D.,  and  he  suggested  means  for  replacing 
lost  dental  organs  by  substituting  extracted  natural 

ones;  he  also  produced   many   dentures  of  bone  and 
ivory. 

The  Arabs  generally  were  very  proud  of  their 
teeth  and  among  them  the  tooth-pick  was  a  pccket 
friend.  The  tooth-picks  were  made  of  mastic- wood 
and  they  used  them  in  preference   to  quills  ;    hence 


l8  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

Rabelais  says  that  "prince  Gargantua,  like  the  Ar- 
abians picks  his  teeth  with  raastic-wood  tooth- 
pickers*'. 

The  Arabs  not  only  appreciated  their  teeth,  but 
in  ancient  days  worshiped  the  cuspid  tooth  of  a 
monkey.  Tradition  has  it  that  they  once  offered 
700,000  ducats,  or  about  725,000  dollars  in  our 
money,  for  the  redemption  of  a  monkey's  tooth. 

In  a  recent  number  of  the  Harper's  we  read  that 
a  traveller  who  had  visited  and  acquainted  himself 
with  the  fleet  Arabians,  says:  "If  you  are  ever  in- 
tending to  visit  the  land  of  the  "ship  of  the  sand"*do 
not  fail  to  comment  the  Arabian  on  his  grand  steed  and 
pearly  teeth,  these  are  the  two  things  that  are  cher- 
ished in  his  heart." 

But  notwithstanding  that  the  Arab  never  neg- 
lected his  teeth  or  steed,  we  find  that  some  of  his 
good  people  wore  artificial  dentures  ;  at  any  rate  an 
Arabian  general  under  Mohammed  of  Ghor.  and 
conqueror  of  India,  was  slain  and  his  body  could 
only  be  identified  by  means  of  the  false  teeth  he 
wore,   and  held  in  place  by  gold  wedges  and  wire. 


OK    DKXTAL    I'ROSDIESIS .  I9 


Greek  Dental  Art. 


"The  Greeks",  it  is  said,  "learned  what  the 
Egyptians  knew",  and  no  doubt  the  science  of  dental 
surgery  emigrated  from  Egypt  to  (jreece  as  did 
nearly  all  knowledge.  The  Greeks  who  were  at  one 
time  a  very  dexterous  and  progressive  race  were 
skilled  in  all  arts  and  science  and  to  their  ancient 
historians  and  bards  belongs  much  credit  for  having 
noted  the  then  present  state  of  dental  prosthesis  not 
only  in  the  land  of  the  Greeks  but  the  land  of  man. 

Homer  the  great  Greek  sage  and  historian  tells 
us  that  Esculapius,  a  surgeon  Nvho  lived  about  1250 
B.  C.,  used  a  narcotic  to  produce  insensibility  when 
performing  minor  operations  such  as  tooth  drawing. 
He  too  we  are  informed  was  the  first  to  teach  the 
art  of  tooth  purging  and  filling.  Esculapius  per- 
formed many  wonderful  operations  and  his  skill  en- 
abled him  to  cure  the  most  desperate  diseases.  He 
was  thought  of  so  highly  by  the  Greeks  that  a  statue 
of  him  was  made  in  gold  and  after  his  tieath  was 
called  the  god  of  medicine. 

The  Greek  writer  Cicero  gives  credit  to  the 
third  son  of  Esculapius  for  the  invention  of  an  in- 
strument for  the  extraction  of  deceased  teeth.  It  is 
further  claimed    that  these  ancients  were  acquainted 


20  IHt:    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

with  the  art  of  healing  dental  caries  by  plugging  the 
cavity  with  Gold  foil,  and  that  the  BritishMuseum 
contains  skulls  taken  from  Greek  tombs,  and  the 
teeth  in  these  dead  remains  are  unmistakably  filled 
M'ith  gold  foil. 

Aristotle  the  Greek  philosopher  who  lived  about 
350  B.  C.,  gives  considerable  consideration  to  the 
teeth  in  his  book  of  problems  and  treatise  on  phys- 
iognomy as  well  as  in  his  other  works.  The  Temple 
of  Delphi  well  illustrates  the  antiquity  of  Grecian  den- 
tal art.  This  old  structure  contains  within  its  walls 
a  pair  of  leaden  forceps  which  date  back  2000  B.  C. 
and  Aristotle  informs  us  that  the  dentist  who  depos- 
ited it  there  was  known  as  Erasistratus. 

Greecian  lore  abundantly  testifies  that  Dental 
Prosthesis  was  practiced  and  to  no  small  extent.  The 
tenth  of  the  celebrated  Greek  Laws  of  the  Twelve 
Tables  allowed  that  any  gold  used  to  fasten  the 
teeth  might  be  burned  or  hurried  with  the  body. 

In  the  works  of  the  renowned  archaeologist  Be- 
lozoni  we  read  that  "the  Greeks  wore  false  teeth  of 
sycamore  wood  which  had  been  fastened  to  the  ad- 
joining natural  ones  by  ligatures  of  gold  or  silver; 
and  that  many  of  the  decayed  natural  ones  were  filled 
with  a  clay-like  substance  which  became  remarkably 
hard  and  durable." 


OF    DENIAL    PROSTHESIS.  2  1 


Roman  Dental  Art. 


We  will  now  bid  the  scholarly  Greecians  good- 
bye and  travel  to  the  land  of  war  —  Italy  —  there  to 
greet  the  model  Roman.  Although  the  Roman  was 
constantly  engaged  in  battle,  yet  much  attention  was 
paid  to  the  hne  arts.  ''The  greatest  Roman  Surgeon 
that  ever  lived",  says  Herodotus,  ''was  Hippocrates, 
who  lived  about  450  B.  C.  This  genius  was  a  distant 
relative  of  Esculapius,  and  like  the  great  surgeon 
was  divinely  skilled  in  the  practice  of  medicine  and 
surgery". 

At  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Hippocrates  medicine 
and  surgery  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  heathen 
priesthood,  who  knew  little  of  medicine  as  a  science, 
and  so  thoroughly  clothed  the  subject  with  super- 
stition and  mysteries  that  future  generations  still 
suffer  the  effect.  Every  minute  operation  which 
these  priests  performed  was  accompanied  by  some 
special  religious  ceremonies.  Temples  were  erected, 
and  within  their  walls  mythological  figures  stationed; 
each  and  every  god  or  goddess  being  recognized  as 
the  divine  guard  against  some  disease,  accident,  pain 
or  ailment.  The  priests  who  had  these  several 
temples    in    charge   reaped   at  these  doors   unknown 


2  2  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

harvest  of  riches;  since  if  some  poor  unfortunate 
plebian  suffered  from  toothache  or  other  malady  he 
would  by  payment  of  toll  or  tarrif  be  permitted  to 
enter  the  temple  and  there  at  the  feet  of  the  specially 
created  god  or  goddess  patiently  pray  until  the  pain 
subsided;  if  it  happened  to  continue  for  more  than  a 
day  the  wretched  sufferers  would  return  to  thetem.ple 
the  next  day  with  less  money,  less  hope  and  more 
pain . 

In  later  times  to  endow  a  monastery,  found  one, 
or  to  have  performed  a  miracle  was  the  safest  pass- 
port to  canonization.  The  following  taken  from  an 
ancient  work  on  mythological  beliefs  gives  a  com- 
plete list  of  such  saints  and  gods,  as  the  plebians 
would  be  obliged  to  give  devotion  in  case  of  ordinary 
dental  troubles:  Saint  Apollonia  guarded  against 
toothache,Saint  Lucy  guarded  against  sore  tooth, Saint 
Anthony  guarded  against  inflammation,  Saint  Germa- 
nus  guarded  against  diseased  erruption,  Saint  Marcus 
guarded  against  neuralgia,  Saint  Herbert  guarded 
against  poisened  teeth. 

The  Roman  priests  also  erected  temples  in 
memory  of  the  great  Greecian  physician  Esculapius, 
and  worshipped  him  as  a  god  of  medicine.  The 
cock  was  commonly  sacrificed  to  his  memory,  but  a 
peculiar    bread    of    serpents   was   the  favorite  type 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  23 


The  monks  shrewdly  worked  upon  the  confidence  of 
the  laity,  as  regards  the  miraculous  cures  wrought  by 
praying  to  Esculapius;  and  the  priests  of  the  temples 
at  once  founded  the  society  known  as  Esculapae  or 
children  of  Esculapius,  and  the  members  of  this 
association  were  the  only  regular  physicians  and 
surgeons  of  antiquity.  **The  sale  of  Esculapian 
snakes,  or  holy  snakes"  as  they  were  called,  was  a 
source  of  revenue  to  the  priests  and  physicians  who 
lived  about  the  temples.  Thus  religion,  medicine 
and  surgery  were  practiced  together;  and  through 
the  instrumentality  of  priest-physicians,  sacrifices  and 
votive  offerings  of  value  served  to*  enrich  the  medical 
temples,  and  oppose  the  anger  of  the  immortal  Gods 
and  saints  at  the  same  time.  Charms,  talismans  and 
amulets  were  resorted  to  for  individual  ailments  and 
to  ward  of  disease. 

The  priests  in  simple  had  what  we  would  now- 
adays term  a  "corner  on  medical  science",  and  they 
jealously  guarded  the  votaries  and  fought  every  ad- 
vance made  by  the  plebians  towards  medical  dis- 
coveries. 

But  alas  these  shrewd  monks  soon  lost  the  sub- 
stantial portion  of  their  income  when  the  young 
Hippocrates  grew  up  ''learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of 
medical  science  and   surgical  art."     Although   him- 


24  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

self  the  son  of  a  priest-physician  and  inheriting  all 
the  superstition  and  educated  in  the  traditions  of  the 
priestly  rites  he  broke  loose  from  former  teachings 
and  proclaimed  to  all  the  civilized  world  that  medi- 
cine was  based  on  inductive  philosophy,  and  dis- 
closed at  the  risk  of  his  life  that  the  priestly  system 
was  a  fraud  and  an  imposition.  He  it  Was  who  first 
undertook  to  collect  the  fragmentary  knowledge  of 
medicine  and  restore  it  to  something  of  an  order. 
He  classified  and  described  diseases  and  with  him 
medicine  and  surgery  began  their  careers  as  sciences. 
All  that  is  known  concerning  early  history  of  medi- 
cine, and  surgery  is  derived  from  the  works  of^Hippo- 
crates,  his  family  or  his  pupils.  When  we  consider 
the  age  in  which  he  lived — 400  B.  C,  and  the  diffi- 
culties under  which  he  studied  medicine,  we  can  not 
fail  to  admire  the  great  advance  he  made .  His  system 
is  conspicuous  in  rejecting  the  superstitions  of  his 
time  by  teaching  his  many  disciples  to  impute  a 
proper  agency  to  physical  cause.  It  was  to  the  in- 
terest of  those  connected  with  the  temples  to  refer 
all  diseases  to  supernatural  agencies,  and  any  contra- 
diction of  such  doctrine  by  Hippocrates  must  have 
met  with  great  reprehension.  Yet  the  opposition 
seemed  to  weigh  but  little  with  this  great  and  talented 
physician.     He   pursued   his  practice  without  giving 


OF    DENTAL    PROSIHESIS.  .     2 1^ 


himself  the  least  concern  in  that  respect,  and  in  doing 
sOj  set  an  example  to  all  who  should  succeed  him  in 
his  noble  profession,  and  most  forcibly  taught  his 
pupils  not  to  hesitate  in  encountering  the  prejudices 
and  superstitions  of  the  present,  for  tlie  sake  of  trutli 
in  the  future. 

We  as  dentists  should  reverence  the  memory  of 
Hippocrates  for  the  complete  manner  in  which  he 
accomplished  his  object.  While  Hippocrates  inves- 
tigated all  branches  of  medicine,  the  diseases  of  the 
mouth  and  teeth  did  not  escape  his  notice.  He  ob- 
served the  teeth  in  their  healthy  and  diseased  condi- 
tion from  the  time  of  their  appearance  until  lost  in 
old  age.  Some  of  his  quotations  are  as  follows: 
Teeth  in  similar  conditions  will  erupt  with  less  diffi- 
culty in  winter  than  at  any  other  period;  that  children 
who  sleep  well  have  little  difficulty  in  erupting  their 
teeth;  that  teething  children  with  open  bowels  are 
less  subject  to  convulsions  than  those  suffering  from 
constipation.  He  directed  the  attention  to  the  in- 
fluences that  diseased  teeth  have  in  diseases  of  the 
breast,  throat  and  ears,  which  diseases  he  claimed 
could  Only  be  cured  by  removing  the  troubling  teeth. 
He  further  remarked:  Cold  drinks  effect  and  injure  the 
teeth;  different  seasons  of  the  year  have  their  various 
influences  on  the  dental  organs:    ulceration  and   sup- 


2  6    ,  THE    RISE,    FALL    AXD    REVIVAL 


ration  of  the  gums  can  be  prevented  if  proper  care 
be  given  the  teeth;  loose  teeth  he  advises  to  be  tied 
to  their  neighbors  by  means  of  gold  or  silk  thread; 
cleansing  the  teeth  is  a  precautionary  measure 
against  decay;  avoid  eating  hard  substances  thus  not 
break  or  crack  the  teeth;  substances  that  set  the 
teeth  on  edge  are  injurious.  In  one  of  his  note  books 
couchres  this  observation:  '-In  consequence  of  a 
diseased  tooth  the  maxallary  bone  of  the  son  of  Me- 
trodorons  become  disorganized  the  gums  grew  exub- 
erantly but  the  supperation  was  moderate.  He  lost 
the  molars  and  the  maxillary  bone". 

After  the  death  of  Hippocrates  the  science  of 
medicine  and  surgery  took  a  retrograde  step  and 
again  fell  to  the  hands  of  the  pagan  priests  who 
made  use  of  the  discoveries  of  Hippocrates  to  further 
the  confidence  that  divine  power  was  invested  in  the 
priesthood. 

Phiney  says:  Thus  the  priests  became  the  re- 
cognized surgeons  and  they  taught  the  science  with 
many  acult  and  mysterious  ceremonies  well  calcu- 
lated to  impress  the  vulgar  and  to  excite  belief  in 
their  miraculous  power."  So  we  find  that  the  great 
science  of  medicine  and  surgery  was  confined  to  the 
ancient  priestcraft  and  they  took  good  care  to  keep 
it  well  saturated  with  mysteries;    but  they  themselves 


OF    DENTAL    I'ROSTUESIS.  27 

were  well  posted  and  studied  laboriously  to  gain 
knowledge  in  the  promising  new  field.  The  priests 
discovered  numerous  medicinal  agencies  but  the  out- 
side world  was  kept  ignorant  of  these  priestly  ac- 
complishments. While  the  science  was  being  cradled 
by  these  inquisitors,  the  common  surgeon  was  prohi- 
bited from  practicing  under  penalty  of  imprisonment 
or  death. 

Sumner  has  wisely  said  that  "vice  and 
barbarism  are  inseperable  companions  of  ignorance 
and  superstition,  and  without  knowledge  there  can 
be  no  sure  progress."  Hence  we  comprehend  why 
there  was  a  pause  in  the  research  and  advancement 
in  surgical  science;  the  priests  having  full  sway  and 
unlimited  power,  kept  all  information  from  the  laity, 
and  only  a  select  few  who  had  the  necessary  influence 
and  pecuniary  circumstances  could  learn  of  the  new 
and  wonderful  discoveries  in  the  prosthetic  art. 

But  pupils  of  this  class  through  an  agency  en- 
tirely unknown  to  antiquity  knowledge  of  every  kind 
has  become  general  and  permanent;  it  can  no  longer 
be  confined  to  select  circle  or  crushed  by  tyranny  nor 
be  lost  by  neglect.  The  press  ever  watchful  with  its 
100  eyes  of  Argus  and  strong  with  more  than  a  loo 
arms  of  Briarious,  not  only  guards  all  conquests  of 
civilization  but  leads   the  way   to   further  triumphs 


28  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

Among  the  voluminous  writings  of  the  Latin 
poets  frequent  reference  is  made  to  artificial  teeth. 
The  famous  Martial  who  lived  in  the  first  century 
B.  C,  says  that  a  Roman  Dentist  ''Calcellius  is  in 
the  habit  of  fastening  as  well  as  extracting  the  teeth". 
To  Lelius  the  same  author  says:  You  are  not 
ashamed  to  purchase  teeth  and  hair;  and  adds  that 
the  toothless  mouth  of  Egle  was  repaired  with  bone 
and  ivory;  also  that  "Galla  more  refined  removed  her 
artificial  teeth  during  the  night.".  The  immortal 
Horace  of  the  same  century  cites  the  case  of  the  sor- 
ceresses Canida  and  Lagana  running  through  the  city 
and  loosing  the  one  her  false  hair,  the  other  her  false 
teeth.  If  we  may  place  reliance  upon  written  history 
then  we  are  obliged  to  believe  that  a  certain  Corne- 
lius Celsus,  a  noted  Roman  dentist  of  the  time  of 
Tiberius  (A.  D.  14 — 37)  wrote  upon  the  diseases  of 
the  teeth  and  their  treatment,  and  is  also  credited 
with  inviting  or  introducing  the  art  of  plugging  teeth 
with  gold  foil. 

The  Roman  practice  of  cremating  all  but  the 
most  noted  of  their  dead  has  consequently  destroyed 
most  of  the  desired  evidence  in  this  direction.  Ovid 
and  Virgil  make  similar  remarks  which  prove  beyond 
the  shadow  of  doubt  that  Dental  Prosthesis  was  a 
known  art  to  Ancient  Romans. 


OK    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  29 

As  to  the  condition  of  the  teeth  in  prehistoric 
and  medevial  or  modern  times  I  can  quote  no  better 
authority  than  Dr.  Talbot,  who  has  devoted  years, 
energy  and  finance  to  learn  of  the  true  condition  of 
the  dental  organs  or  their  substitutes  of  our  historic 
ancestors.  In  an  address  by  the  doctor  last  year  he 
says;  relative  to  the  ancient  dental  practitioner:  ''The 
instruments  for  dental  as  well  surgical  purposes, 
which  are  to  be  seen  in  the  museums  of  Europe,  to- 
gether with  the  beautiful  specimens  of  Etrurian  and 
Phoenician  dentistry — now  in  the  possession  of  Drs. 
Van  Marter  of  Rome,  Barrett  of  Buffalo  and  Taft  of 
Cincinnati  —  are  striking  illustrations  of  the  superior 
ability  wich  men  of  early  times  acquired." 

These  specimens  of  which  Dr.  Talbot  speaks  are 
rare,  not  owing  to  the  supposed  cause  of  dentures, 
not  being  common  in  ancient  days,  but  on  account 
of  the  peculiar  customs  of  their  early  folks  in  dispos- 
ing their  dead,  the  few  and  treasured  relics  which  we 
as  a  profession  possess,  has  come  down  to  us  simply 
because  time,  weather  and  circumstaces  did  not  de- 
stroy them. 

In  1889  Dr.  Barrett  while  exhibiting  some  of  the 
treasure  trove  remarked:  "These  specimens  date 
from  about  the  founding  of  Rome.  They  are  of 
more  than  unusual  interest,  as  they   bear  unimpeach- 


30  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

able  testimony  on  some  interesting  points  connected 
with  the  teeth  of  man.  Dentists  of  today  unusually 
entertain  the  idea  that  the  prevalence  of  diseases  of 
the  teeth  is  to  be  attributed  •  to  the  altered  methods 
of  living,  to  the  modes  of  cooking  food  to  change  in 
the  manner  of  life,  etc.  Some  years  since  I  had 
examined  about  two  thousand  (2000)  ancient  skulls, 
more  especially  with  reference  to  evidences  of  dental 
disease.  The  examination  at  once  demonstrated 
conclusively  that  all  the  diseases  of  modern  life,  ex- 
cept syphilis,  were  as  rife  in  ancient  times  as  to-day. 
Two  of  the  teeth  I  have  shown  you  prove  the  exist- 
ence of  Pyorrhea  alveolaris  in  teeth  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  years  before  the  Christian  era.'' 

Now,  if  this  as  Dr.  Barrett  cites,  is  correct, 
which  no  doubt  it  is,  there  is  abundant  proof  that  in 
those  days,  like  in  our  own  times,  there  were  as  Sha- 
kespeare says: 

"Sans  teeth,  sans  eyes, 
Sans  taste,  sans  everything". 

And  since  Dr.  Talbot  comes  to  us  with  con- 
scientious assurance  that  the  ancient  practioners 
were  highly  skilled  in  the  preserving  and  as  well  re- 
constructing dental  organs  we  must  feel  convinced 
that  the  old  dentist  practiced  upon  the  sans  teeth  ^ 
of  which  Dr.  Barrett  lends  undoubted  authority. 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  3 1 

The  reason  why  I  dwell  upon  this  subject  of 
ancient  dental  substitutes  is  that  we  have  modern 
scientists  among  our  ranks  who  are  attempting  to 
popularize  the  idea,  that  there  are  not  in  existance  any 
authentic  proofs  of  there  having  ever  been  in  ancient 
times  dental  practioners,  nor  that  the  mouldering 
dead  demonstrate  the  science  of  crown  bridgework 
or  artifical  teeth.  Some  years  since  one  of  our 
American  dentists  wrote  an  article  for  one  of  our 
dental  journals,  in  which  the  author  states  that  "no 
well  authenticated  case  of  gold  filling  has  been  found 
in  the  teeth  of  the  ancient  Romans,  Etrurians  or 
Egyptians  and  that  the  superior  cement  reported  to 
exist  in  the  teeth  of  these  dead  has  proved  to  be 
simply  tartar."  The  same  author  adds  that  the  so- 
called  "bridgework*'  reported  to  have  been  found 
are  crude  attachments  of  artificial  teeth  by  gold- 
wire,  and  from  large  use  in  the  mouth  are  thickly 
coated  with  caleareous  deposit;  their  mechanical 
contrivances  are  in  no  wise  comparable  with  the 
artificial  productions  of  today." 

It  gratifies  me  to  tell  you  as  a  class  that  I  have 
assurance  from  doctors  who  are  in  the  possession  of 
genuine  cases  of  filled  teeth,  crown  work  and  bridges 
which  were  exhumed  in  various  parts  of  Italy,  Greece 
and    Egypt,    that    they   will    be  on  exhibition  in  the 


3  2  THE     RISK,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

coming  Columbian  World's  Fair;  and  I  hope  the 
writer  of  the  about  spoken  disclaimer  can  have  the 
pleasure  of  acknowledging  his  mistake. 

In  a  recent  copy  of  a  scientific  weekly  paper  I 
noticed  the  following  seemingly  wonderful  disclos- 
ure: "It  is  claimed  by  the  modern  dental  surgeon 
that  ancient  |)eople  had  their  teeth  filled  with  gold, 
obviously  to  prevent  further  decay  of  the  teeth. 
This  on  recent  and  close  investigation  proves  to  be, 
as  the  Americans  term  it,  a  fake^  and  it  is  easily 
proven  to  be  such.  What  the  anxious  dentists  of  to- 
day thouglit  to  be  gold  plugs  now  clearifies  to  be 
nothing  more  or  less  than  mere  gilding  of  the  teeth. 
The  belles  of  old  were  accustomed  to  lend^esthetic 
marks  to  their  delicate  features  by  gilding  their  front 
teeth." 

This  writer  too,  no  doubt,  believes  that  he  has 
solved  an  intricate  problem,  but  in  this  case  his  little 
knowledge  has  j)roven  to  be  a  dangerous  thing,  since 
he  does  discredit  to  the  ancients  and  attempts  to  de- 
ride medical  science  of  its  laurels  and  simultaneously 
rob  history  of  facts.  Had  the  writer  drank  but 
deeper  of  the  Pierian  Spring  he  would  have  sipped 
up  a  drought  of  information,  such  as  would  have  not 
only  cautioned  him  from  writing  as  he  did,  but  on 
the  contrar\  stimulated  him  to  regard  records  of  the 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  33 

past  as  worthy  of  deep  and  continued  study.  It  is 
true  that  in  many  of  the  tombs  of  ancient  Italy 
and  Greece,  the  mummified  corpse  presents  golden 
teeth,  or  more  clearly  speaking  gilded  teeth,  and  it 
will  be  of  interest  to  us,  to  learn  why  such  was  the 
case. 

We  learn  in  the  Grecian  and  as  well  Roman 
mythology  that  in  the  event  of  the  death  of  an  em- 
inent personage,  and  more  especially  the  kings,  em- 
perors and  public  benefactors,  the  burial  ceremony 
included  the  gilding  of  the  teeth  of  the  dead.  And 
why  this  you  ask  ?  For  the  simple  and  particular 
reason  that  their  mythological  belief  proclaimed  that 
the  teeth  'be  gilded,  in  order  that  the  departed  might 
greet  the  immortal  gods  of  judgment  in  all  possible 
glory.  The  river  Styx  was  by  them  supposed  to  be 
the  boundary  line  between  life  and  death,  and  in 
consequence  the  departed  in  order  to  enter  the  king- 
dom of  the  immortal  god — heaven — was  obliged  to 
cross  this  fearful  river  Styx.  But  to  facilitate  the 
passage  the  dead  must  be  in  the  good  graces  of  the 
god  Charon,  the  watchman  of  this  stream  and  the 
ferryman  of  the  shades  of  death,  and  in  no  way 
could  the  love  of  this  god  be  secured  other  than  by 
gilded  teeth  and  copper  coin.  The  fee  exacted  by 
him  for  this  service  from  each  spirit  ferried  over  the 


34  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

Styx  was  never  less  than  one  obulus  —  one  penny  — 
nor  more  than  three;  and  to  provide  for  this  fee 
small  coins  were  placed  in  the  mouth  of  the  dead. 
The  spirits  of  those  bodies  which  had  not  gilded 
teeth  and  sufficient  copper  coin  to  pass,  were  sup- 
posed to  wander  on  the  shore  of  the  Styx  for  one  cen- 
tury, after  which  period  the  god  Charon  would  per- 
mit the  unfortunate  to  enter  the  boat  and  cross  the 
stream  and  be  escorted  to  the  seat  of  judgment. 
Now  then,  kind  listeners,  we  comprehend,  why  some 
of  the  dead  and  mummified  bodies  of  the  ancients 
have  gilded  teeth. 

I  would  caution  any  dental  student  against  be- 
lieving too  readily  anything  pertaining  to  the  acccAii- 
plishments  of  the  ancient  dentist;  yet  I  also  would 
advise  him  not  to  be  too  reluctant  about  yielding, 
especially  when  the  facts  and  figures  thoroughly  de- 
monstrate him  as  being  opposite  to  truth  and  justice. 


Etrurian   Dental   Art. 


The  Etrurians  who  inhabited  the  northern  part 
of  Italy  were  well  skilled  in  mechanical  sciences,  and 
Etruria  flourished  as  the  Italian  seat  of  learning. 
Etrurian    was   the  home    of    ancient,  Italian  talent, 


OF   DENTAL   PROSTHESIS.  35 

wealth  and  power.  These  ancient  Etrurians  were  a 
very  remarkable  people.  Among  them  the  fine  arts 
were  highly  cultivated  and  dexterity  so  well  develop- 
ed  as  at  the  present  time  to  excite  admiration.  They 
were  exceedingly  luxurious  in  both  dress  and  appe- 
tite, and  extremely  fond  of  personal  ornaments,  even 
going  so  far  as  to  have  their  sound  natural  teeth 
gilded,  a  custom  of  which  our  modern  belles  can  not 
boast. 

In  those  days  the  barber  did  not  claim  dentistry 
as  a  foster  child,  as  the  following  depiction  of  a  ton- 
sorial  shop,  by  Plutarch,  about  73  A.  D.,  will  clearly 
show.  "The  barber  shop  with  its  talkative  inmates 
was  not  only  frequented  by  those  requiring  the  serv- 
ice of  the  barber  in  cutting  hair,  shaving,  cutting 
the  nails  and  corns  and  tearing  out  small  hairs,  but 
was  also  a  symposium  house  where  politics  and  local 
news  were  discussed".  Had  the  barber  in  this  an- 
cient day  practiced  the  science  or  art  of  dentistry 
this  writer  who  was  very  minute  and  exacting  in  his 
composition,  would  have  made  proper  reference  in 
the  description. 

Among  the  Etrurians,  dental  science  was  studied 
and  practiced  as  a  specialty  of  medicine.  "However 
in  this  department  of  learning",  says  Professor  G.  A. 
F.  Van  Rhyn,  the  eminent  archaeologist,  "the  Etrur- 


^6  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

ians  were  imitative  rather  than  creative,  and  the  art 
bore  at  every  period  the  marks  of  foreign  influence, 
especially  Egyptian,  Babylonian  and  Grecian." 

Nothwithstanding  that  the  Etrurian  dentists 
paterned  much  after  the  oriental  artists  yet  much 
credit  is  due  them  for  having  perfected  many  dental 
operations  of  a  more  difficult  character.  We  shall 
in  the  near  future  know  more  about  the  accomplish- 
ments of  the  Etrurians,  since  many  archeologists  are 
hard  at  work  solving  the  language  of  these  grand 
people.  They  left  us  no  key  to  their  strange  lang- 
uage, and  no  history  except  that  which  is  written  in 
the  tombs:  hence  all  we  know  of  them  is  from  ad- 
jacent and  contemporary  nations  of  people:  numer- 
ous are  the  theories  advanced  as  regards  derivation 
or  origin  of  the  Etrurian  race.  Simultaneous  with 
the  discovery  of  the  key  to  the  language  shall  come 
a.  long,  interesting  and  profitable  lesson  relative  to 
their  attainments  as  dental  practioners. 

The  Etrurians  like  the  (xreeks  and  Romans  held 
great  faith  in  the  mythological  gods,  and  much  like 
the  oriental  peo])lc  sought  the  good  will  of  the  angry 
immortals,  by  prayers,  votive  offering  and  sacrifices. 

Their  priests,  wliom  they  called  luciinios,  were 
the  guards  and  guides  of  the  various  religious  and 
medical  temples;    but  tlie  medical  [)rofession  with  its 


OF    DENIAL    PROSTHESIS. 


Z7 


jiumerous  branches  was  practiced  with  great  success 
a^vwe  learn  from  the  object  lessons  left  us. 

.Modern  dentists  feel  somewhat  flattered  by  their 
late  success  in  crown  and  bridge  work,  but  our  pre- 
historic professional  forefathers  we  find  did  the  same 
ingenious  work  centuries  ago. 

In  the  museums  at  Cornets,  Italy,  can  be  found 
carefully  guarded  with  lock  and  key  two  specimens 
of  ancient  Etrurian  bridgework.  Their  authenticity 
is  undoubted  since  Van  Marter,  at  present  a  Roman 
dentist,  procured  from  the  Sig.  Dasti,  the  royal  in- 
spector of  excavations  and  exhumations  at  Cor- 
nets, Etruria,  a  certificate  duly  signed  and  sealed, 
testifying  that  said  specimens  of  gold  bridgework 
were  discovered  in  the  mouth  of  a  corpse  which  had 
been  entombed  upwards  of  2400  years  ago. 

The    cases    were    well  made,  the  artifical  teeth 
were   evident!)-   carved  from   the  teeth  of  some  large 
animar  and   were  well  executed.     The  artificial  sub- 
stitutes   were   the   two   superior   central  incisors  and 
the  first  bicuspid  of  the  left  side.     The  artificial  cen- 
terals  and  the  natural  lateral  and  cuspid  of  the  right 
side  were  in  a  fair  state  of  perservation,  and  the  en- 
tirety was  retained  in  position  by  gold  bands;    while 
the  natural  lateral,  cuspid  and  second  bicuspid  and 
artificial  first  bicuspid  of  the  left  side  were  lost.    The 


^8  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

three  substitutes  were  also  encircled  by  gold  bands 
secured  by  rivets  passed  through  each  tooth.  Three 
cases  more  of  a  similar  construction  were  unearthed 
in  the  crumbling  Etrurian  tombs. 

These  are  the  earliest  known  essays  of  dental 
bridgework.  What  conclusions  are  we  to  draw  from 
this  evidence  of  wonderful  surgical  instruments  and 
appliances  found  in  the  ruins  of  Pompeii,  instru- 
ments that  have  been  re-invented  in  recent  years  to 
meet  the  demands  of  modern  surgery  ?  One  is  almost 
inclined  to  call  a  halt  before  expressing  any  opinion 
and  wait  a  little  longer  for  excavators  to  dig  up 
Etrurian  or  Urbain  telephones  and  a  long  catalogue 
of  similar-supposed  modern  inventions. 

In  1884  the  great  English  surgeon,  Sir  Spencer 
Wells,  made  investigations  relative  to  Etrurian  med- 
ical and  dental  science  and  expressed  great  interest 
in  the  matter;  he  related  to  Dr.  Van  Marter,  D.D.S., 
of  Rome,  that  he  learned  that  these  ancient  folks  had 
their  teeth  filled  with  a  kind  of  fusible  metal.  The 
noted  English  archeologist  and  writer  Mr.  Forbes, 
while  in  Etruria  and  Rome,  discovered  that  many 
of  the  mummified  dead,  had  teeth  filled  with  gold 
and  a  peculiar  amalgam. 

Hence  we  would  conclude  that  few  Etrurians 
suffered   or  died  from  toothache.     On  the  contrary 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  39 


we  are  inclined  to  think  they  had  better  teeth  than 
we  of  now-days  have»  and  that  in  many  respects  these 
people  were  wiser  than  we  are. 

As  a  rule  they  cremated  their  dead  and  this 
custom  of  theirs  renders  our  task  of  procuring  evi- 
dence a  very  difficult  one.  From  what  I  can  learn, 
only  great  warriors  and  civilians  of  distinction  were 
embalmed  and  laid  at  rest  in  the  family  tomb.  Two 
or  three  thousand  years  of  time  has  accomplished 
the  same  end,  for  nearly  all  those  who  were  embalmed 
and  laid  to  rest  in  state  as  did  the  common  burial — 
"ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust".  This  narrows  our 
limits  of  research  to  a  small  territory  and  makes  it 
rather  surprising  that  any  symbol  of  dental  work 
should  come  down  to  us  from  those  remote  times. 

But  in  the  days  of  flourishing  Etruria  only  the 
noble  were  fortunate  enough  to  receive  the  benefits 
of  dental  operations,  while  the  low  and  lowly  were 
forced  to  suffer  the  tortures  which  disease  of  the 
teeth  and  oral  cavity  entailed. 

The  tombs  in  which  the  elite  of  those  days  were 
enshrined  were  most  beautifully  finished  and  their 
walls  were  ornamented  with  frescoes  typical  of  the 
life  of  that  period.  Time  has  naturally  covered  these 
sacred  vaults,  and  -the  ground  above  them  has  been 


40  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

cultivated    for    ages,    while    below  are    human  ashes 
telling  unknown  legends  of  the  lost  art  —Dentistry. 

The  science  of  dentistry  from  the  5th  to  the 
i8th  century  was  entirely  neglected  and  to  the  suffer- 
ing masses  lost  in  oblivion  during  the  long  and  blank 
period  of  human  record;  the  mere  operation  of  ex- 
tracting useless  and  painful  teeth  was  the  extent  of 
dental  science,  thus  the  dark  ages  not  only  retarded 
advancement  in  our  science  but  it  produced  retro- 
gation ;  with  only  an  occasional  ray  of  light  pene- 
trating its  misty  veil,  only  to  be  immediately  swal- 
lowed in  the  dense  surrounding  gloom  of  superstition 
aad  reliofious  intolerance. 

During  these  dark  days,  known  as  the  dark  ages, 
all  sciences  and  arts  were  completely  neglected  and 
the  born  artists,  scientists  and  even  the  philosophers 
were,  by  cruel  fate,  turned  into  soldiers,  knights  and 
marshalls.  This  gloomy  period  covered  a  duration 
of  time  estimated  by  historians  to  be  about  one 
thousand  years.  All  professions  suffered  in  this 
reign  of  terror  and  the  various  callings  of  scientific 
men  fell  to  the  hands  of  mere  artisans  and  laborers. 
Dentistry,  once  in  the  hands  of  competent  and  de- 
serving men,  now  took  a  retrogade  step  and  became 
a  branch  of  the  blacksmith's,  barber's  and  jeweller's 
trade.     The  Oral  surgery  or  more  properly  speaking 


41  OF    DENTAL    l'KOSTHP:&IS . 

dental  surgery  was  then  practiced  by  the  barbers  and 
blacksmiths  exclusively.  The  following  from  George 
Elliot's  Romula  (1492)  well  illustrates  the  tonsorial 
claim  on  the  dental  school:  "Nay  Bratti,"  said  the 
barber  in  an  undertone,  "thy  wisdom  has  much  of 
the  ass  in  it,  as  I  told  thee  just  now;  especially  about 
the  ears.  This  stranger  is  a  Greek,  else  I'm  not  the 
barber  who  has  had  the  sole  and  exclusive  shaving 
of  the  excellent  Calcondila  Demetrio,  and  drawn 
more  than  one  sorry  tooth  from  his  learned  jaw." 

While  the  surgical  portion  of  dental  science  was 
being  looked  after  by  the  barber  and  blacksmith,  the 
prosthetic  branch  was  cared  for  by  the  skilled 
jewellers  of  those  times.  Jewellers  in  those  early 
days  were  far  ahead  of  the  modern  artist,  since  all 
the  intricate  gold  and  gem  work,  as  also  the  engrav- 
ing of  same  was  all  done  unaided  by  the  numerous 
machines  and  appliances  at  the  command  of  the  mod- 
erns. On  this  point  Rev.  Haines,  w^ho  has  invest- 
igated antiquy,  says:  "Etrurian  and  Roman  jewellers 
were  wonderfully  skilled  in  the  rolling,  smelting 
and  manipulating  of  gold  and  other  precious  metals, 
in  all  their  varied  forms.  In  fact,  Etrurian  jewellery 
has  been  famous  for  twenty-five  hundred  (2500) 
years.  I  have  seen  some  specimens  which  were  more 
than  two  thousand  years  old,    that  would  be  difficult 


42  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

of  reproduction  to-day  by  any  but  the  most  skilled 
artificers."  Hence  dental  prosthesis  was  in  the  safe 
keeping  of  men  who  would  to-day  do  credit  to  their 
own  as  well  as  our  profession. 

But  it  was  not  until  late  in  1700  that  the  science 
of  dental  prosthesis  was  eliminated  from  the  jew- 
ellery shop  and  put  in  the  hands  of  men  who  not 
only  understood  the  fundamental  principle  underly- 
ing the  science,  but  also  thoroughly  studied  the 
human  mouth  and  its  many  adjacent  connections 
The  oral-surgery  on  the  other  hand  had  not  be  com. 
pletly  restored  to  specialists  or  even  medically  skilled 
representatives;  in  every  civilized  country  of  the 
earth  the  barber  had  been  known  to  be  definitefy 
connected  with  rude  surgery,  such  as  blood-letting, 
dressing  of  wounds,  and  extraction  of  teeth  or  the 
lancing  of  gums.  In  consequence  of  their  slight 
acquaintance  with  the  rudiments  of  surgery  the  name 
barber-surgeOn  was  usually  applied  to  those  of  the 
barber  trade,  who  demonstrated  some  surgical  skill. 
In  mediaeval  Etruria  the  barbars  were  usually  men  of 
liberal  education,  and  hence  their  intimate  association 
with  noted  personages  gave  rise  to  the  Latin  remark: 
**As  inseparable  as  Musicus,  Tuturos  et  Barba^'> 
As  inseparable  as  the  musician,  teacher  and  barber. 
Thus  for  generations  after  prosthetic  dentistry  ceased 


RLATE      II 


Specirqens   of   Medieval    Dental   Art. 


(OcpynghtEd.) 


OF    DENTAL.    PROSTHESIS,  45 

to  be  practiced  by  jewellers  and  watchmakers,  oral 
surgery  was  firm  in  the  grasp  of  the  aspiring  barber. 

Years  rolled  upon  years  and  generations  after 
generations  passed  beneath  the  sod,  ere  again  the 
dental  specialist  arose  from  among  the  down-trodden 
trades  to  rise  to  his  former  dignity. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century 
dental  science  in  Europe  was  revived,  but  to  no 
marked  degree;  artificial  dentures  were  beginning  to 
receive  attention  and  filling  teeth  with  lead  and  putty 
led  the  way  to  future  conquests. 


-^^^^ 


46  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 


European  Dental  Art. 


Among  the  European  scientists,  who  did  much 
toward  dental  science  we  find  Fallopius,  Eustachius 
and  Pare.  During  the  seventeenth  century  the 
attention  of  many  medical  men  in  France,  Germany 
and  England  was  directed  to  the  subject,  and  a  few 
works  were  published,  devoted  exclusively  to  the  art 
and  science  of  dentistry.  These,  and  prominent 
among  them  the  treatise  of  John  Hunter  (i 771 — 8) 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  English  system  of  dental 
practice.  Hunter  however  treated  the  subject,  ana- 
tomically and  philosophically,  rather  than  practi- 
cally; and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  writings  of 
the  eminent  French  surgeon  of  that  period,  Dr. 
Bichat.  Neither  Hunter  nor  Bichat  was  a  practical 
dentist  and  thus  their  theories  bore  with  them  no 
great  confidence.  Subsequent  to  these  writings  Dr. 
Blake  in  1798  and  Dr.  Fox  in  1803,  as  others  of  later 
date  served,  rather  to  elucidate  the  physiology  of  the 
teeth,  and  the  diseases  to  which  they  are  subject, 
than  the  method  of  treating  or  restoring  them. 

From  advertisements  appearing  in  French  and 
English  newspapers  of  1700  —  1800  the  practice  of 
making  teeth  and  cleaning  them  appears  to  have 
been  in  the  hands  of  silversmiths  and  jewellers. 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  47 

The  earliest  reference  in  modern   times  to  the 
practioner  of  dental  surgery,  as  a  Dentist  occurs  in 
the  Manchester   (England)  Times,   in   the  latter  part 
of  sixteen  hundred.     The  following  is  the  complete 
item    in  which  the   word  dentist  appears:     "We  are 
told  that  a  clergyman  who  had  taken  temporary  duty 
for   a  friend  among  us,   and  who  had  the  ill  luck  to 
injure  his  false  teeth  during  the  week,   the  plate  was 
sent   to  the  dentist  for  repairs,    a  faithful  assurance 
being  given  that  it  should   be   duly  returned  by  Sun- 
day's Post;    but  the  dentist  or  the  post  proved  faith- 
less.    With  the  assistance  of  the  clerk  the  clergyman 
managed   to   stumble  through  the  prayers  but  felt  it 
would  be  useless   to   attempt  to  preach.     He  there- 
fore instructed   the  clerk   to    'make   some  excuse  for 
him  and   dismiss   the   congregation.*      But   the  feel- 
ings  of  the  Reverend   may   be  better  imagined  than 
described  when,  in  seclusion  of   the  vestry,  he  over- 
heard the  clerk  in  impressive  tones,   thus  deliver  the 
'excuse':    Parson's  very   sorry,  but   it  is  his  misfor- 
tune   to  be   obliged   to    wear  a  set  of  artifical  teeth. 
They  busted  last  Wednesday,   and  he   aint'  got  them 
back  from  London  to-day  as  he  was  promised.     I've 
helped    him   all    I    could    through  the  service,    but  I 
can't    do    no    more   for  him.      It  is  n't  any  use   him 
coming  out  of   there   (pointing  to  vestry)   and  going 


48  THE    RISE,       FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

into  the  pulpit,  for  you  would'nt  understand  a  word 
he  said,  so  he  thinks  you  may  as  well  go  home." 

We  moderns  can  form  some  idea  how  awkward 
and  unbecoming  the  dentures  of  these  days  were 
when  we  read  in  Sheridan's  The  Duenna,  Act.  II, 
Sec.  3,  these  lines:  "For  her  teeth,  where  there  is  one 
of  ivory,  its  neighbor  is  pure  ebony,  black  and  white 
alternately,  just  like  the  keys  of  a  harpsichord.' 

About  this  same  time  there  was  a  latent  strife, 
which  eventually  burst  forth  in  an  open  contest 
between  the  dentist  and  the  barber.  We  read  that 
the  barber  surgeons  were  separated  from  the  mere 
perruquiers,  and  that  the  former  were  incorporated 
as  a  distinct  body  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIV.  This  success  of  the  tonsorial  trade  gave 
them  eminence  in  their  own  eyes,  and  being  ambi- 
tious to  continue  to  rise  in  public  favor  made  a  des- 
perate attempt  to  capture  the  dental  art  and  called 
themselves  barber-chirurgeons;  but  alas!  the  few 
dentists,  who  at  this  period  practiced  the  various 
departments  of  dentistry,  saw  danger  in  the  barber's 
new  venture  and  so  thoroughly  protested  the  claim 
of  the  tensors,  on  the  ground  "that  the  barbers  prac- 
ticed the  science  of  dentistry  and  were  not  regularly 
educated",  that  Louis  XIV,  in  1741  separated  the 
barbers    and    dentists    and   made   two  distinct  voca- 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  49 

tions.     The  same  grand  change  took  place  in  Eng- 
land in  1785,  under  George  II. 

The  barbers  on  the  one  hand  reluctantly  yielded 
to  the  kingly  proclamations,  and  have  retained  up  to 
date  a  desire  of  performing  the  minor  operations. 
Dr.  Hunter  says  on  this  interesting  struggle:  ''The 
memorial  between  the  dental  profession  and  the  ton- 
sorial  art  is  still  seen  in  the  striped  pole  and  basin 
sometimes  seen  projecting  as  a  symbol  in  front  of 
the  barber  shops". 

The  same  was  true  with  reference  to  the  jewell- 
ers, but  to  a  less  earnest  degree. 

This  separation  between  the  humbler  calling 
and  the  more  dignified  profession  immediately  gained 
for  the  science  of  dentistry  a  high  social  position, 
and  has  made  the  most  marvelous  progress  known 
to  any  science  in  the  annals  of  man. 

The  French  school  of  dental  science  made  more 
rapid  progress  than  the  English  or  German,  and 
after  the  year  j8oo  the  latter  countries  copied  ex- 
clusively from  the  French  artists. 

The  French  people  thought  much  of  their  natural 
teeth,  and  we  find  in  that  wonderful  fancy  of  the 
brain,  Cervante's  Don  Quixote,  which  was  written 
in  1584,  many  lines  to  corroborate  this  statement; 
the  following  from  this  book:  "Unfortunate  that  I  am ! 


50  J  HE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

I  had  rather  they  had  torn  off  an  arm  ;  provided  it 
were  not  my  sword  arm  ;  for  thou  must  know,  Sancho, 
that  a  mouth  without  teeth  is  like  a  mill  without  a 
stone  ;  and  that  a  diamond  is  not  as  precious  as  a 
tooth,"  There  are  many  people  of  this  nineteenth 
century  who  think  less  of  their  teeth  than  did  this 
chivalrous  knight. 

It  is  claimed  by  modern  dentists  that  Dr. 
P\ichard  of  France  in  1785,  was  the  first  doctor  to 
refer  to  gold-leaf  as  a  filling  material;  and  Dr.  Harris 
of  America  is  responsible  for  the  statement  that  gold- 
leaf  was  first  used  for  filling  purposes  in  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  This  on  close  in- 
vestigation proves  to  be  a  mistake,  since  to  a  German 
dentist,  Dr.  Mesne  by  name,  we  should  be  grateful 
for  re-inventing  the  process  of  filling  teeth  with  gold- 
leaf.  In  a  German  volume  j)ublished  in  Frankfort 
in-  i54«,  entitled:  ^'Medicine  for  the  teeth,  etc,,'"' 
conclusively  demonstrates  the  point  as  follows: 

•'Corrosio  is  a  disease  of  the  teeth  when  they 
get  holes  and  hollows,  happening  mostly  to  the 
molar  teeth,  especially  if  they  do  not  get  cleaned 
after  eating;  for  the  victuals  adhere,  decay,  produce 
bad,  acrid  fluids,  that  eat  and  itch  into  the  teeth,  and 
keep   on   doing   so,   until   the    teeth    are  entirely  de- 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  5  I 

stroyed,  and  one  piece  after  another  must,  not  with- 
out pain,  drop  of." 

This  condition,according  to  Mesue,  is  stopped 
and  cured  in  three  different  ways:  First,  by  purging. 
Secondly,  by  destroying  the  matter  that  hollows  them 
out  and  eats  them  away;  this  is  done  by  boiling 
cockle,  that  grows  in  rye  and  wheat,  with  vinegar, 
and  holding  it  in  the  mouth,  or  with  vinegar  in  which 
capers-root  with  ginger  is  boiled.  Thirdly,  by  get- 
ting rid  of  the  hollow,  which  may  be  done  in  two  ways. 
The  first  is  to  scratch  and  clean  with  a  fine  chisel, 
knife,  file,  or  with  any  other  instrument  fit  for  it,  the 
hollow  and  the  parts  attacked,  and  fill  with  gold- 
haves,  for  the  preservation  of  the  remaining  part  of 
the  tooth.  The  second  is  to  use  medicine,  which  is 
done  by  filling  the  teeth,  after  cleaning,  with  gall-nut 
and  wild  gallows-wood.  Or,  take  henbane-seed 
mixed  with  gum  storax,  and  make  with  it  a  smoke 
through  a  funnel  into  the  hollow  tooth.  Or  gal- 
banum  laid  on  hollow  teeth  mitigates  the  pains.  The 
pains  are  also  quieted  if  the  hollow  teeth  are  filled 
with  oppoponacum." 

In  1728  Dr.  Fuchard,  proposed  as  substitute 
for  natural  teeth,  such  as  could  be  made  of  porcelain; 
this  however   was  simply   a  key  for   some  future  in- 


52  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

ventor,  as  the  proposed  porcelain  teetji  were  not  yet 
in  existence. 

A  curious  old  book  has  come  to  light,  pertaining  to 
primitive  French  dental  art;  that  the  book  in  ques- 
tion was  popular  in  its  time  is  demonstrated  clearly 
as,  1816  it  had  reached  its  fifth  edition.  It  was  en- 
titled :  "A  Dissertation  on  Artificial  Teeth"  by  M. 
De  Chemant.  The  chief  point  of  interest  in  the  book 
centres  in  a  sheet  of  engravings  illustrating  the  var- 
ious types  of  dentures  which  M.  De  Chemant,  was 
prepared  to  supply  to  his  patients.  He  here  clearly 
portrays  a  porcelain  bridge  of  ten  teeth  supported 
by  four  pivots,  by  which  it  is  fastened  to  the  remain- 
ing roots  of  the  jaw.  A  simple  tooth  from  this  ^in- 
genious bridge,  would  be  a  true  representation,  of 
what  we  Americans  call  a  Logan  Crown.  M.  De 
Chemant  speaks  of  these  teeth  as  his  invention  and 
records  the  circumstance  ;  and  to  satisfy  the  curios- 
ity of  students  of  primitive  dental-prosthesis  will  give 
his  own  words  on  the  subject: 

''In  1788,  when  I  exercised  the  profession  of  a 
surgeon,  I  was  consulted  by  a  lady,  who  had  fallen 
into  such  a  state  of  weakness,  as  produced  consider- 
able fears  of  her  life.  On  approaching  her,  I  per- 
ceived a  tainted  odor,  which  I  thought  proceeded  from 
her  lungs,  or  her  teeth,  which  were  black .  I  examined 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  53 


her  mjuth,  an  1  was  struck  with  the  bad  state  of 
a  set  of  human  teeth  implanted  on  the  base  of  a  tooth 
of  the  hippopotamus .  This  set  of  teeth  removed,  I 
perceived  her  mouth  to  be  almost  entirely  covered 
with  small  ulcers,  and  I  had  no  doubt  that  her  dis- 
ease was  the  effect  of  the  putrid  exhalations  which 
proceeded  from  the  set  of  teeth,  a-id  which  corrupted 
the  air  she  breathed  ;  what  confirmed  his  conjecture 
was,  that  after  having  laid  these  teeth  aside,  her 
health  improved  in  a  few  days.  Perceiving  that  this 
lady  would  not  do  without  artificial  teeth,  I  advised 
her  to  have  several  sets  of  teeth  at  the  same  time,  so 
that  she  might  change  them  often,  after  having  washed 
and  let  them  dry.  She  did  so,  and  her  health  became 
re-established  in  the  course  of  some  months.  But 
as  the  teeth  of  this  kind  required  to  be  renewed  fre- 
quently they  occassioned  a  great  expense,  and  not- 
withstanding their  frequent  renewal  they  always  pro- 
duced a  bad  smell.  I  was  induced  from  that  time 
to  reflect  on  the  possibility  and  means  of  making 
teeth  and  sets  of  teeth  of  durable  and  incorruptible 
materials.  I  examined  almost  all  the  substances  of 
the  mineral  kingdom,  and  at  length  composed  a  paste 
which,  when  it  was  baked  (Porcelain)  had  every 
desirable  advantage/ 

Now  as  a  matter  of   fact,    porcelain   teeth   were 


54  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

invented  by  an  apothecary  of  St. -Germain,  Duchateau 
by  name.  He  himself  wore  artilical  dentures  of 
ivory  and  natural  teeth,  but  found  they  rapidly  be- 
came tainted  by  the  various  disagreeable  odors  eman- 
ating from  his  mouth,  the  porous  animal  substances 
becoming  rapidly  impregnated  by  the  effuvia.  This 
druggist  called  the  attention  of  Mr.  Guerard  to  the 
discovery  of  a  paste  which,  when  baked,  became 
very  hard.  The  latter  gentleman  undertook  in  1776 
to  manufacture  the  substance  and  with  the  aid  of  a 
dentist  produced  a  porcelain  tooth. 

But  to  Dr.  Chemant  is  due  the  credit  of  perfecting 
the  discovery  or  invention ;  he  bought  the  right, 
from  the  former,  and  managed  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  French  Academy  of  Science,  who  at  once 
appointed  a  sub-committee  to  examine  the  teeth  and 
their  merits.  The  committee  reported  favorable,  at 
the  same  time  informing  M.  De  Chemant  where 
improvements  were  needed,  and  with  the  aid  of  Du. 
bois,  dentist,  the  new  substance  (porcelain)  was  con- 
siderably improved, 

In   1805    Professor  Laf argue    published    a  book 
on  the  practice  and  art  of  dentistry.     Dr.  Debarre  is 
another  early  dental  practitioner  who  deserves  much 
praise,    since    he    in    the   early  century  published    a 
volume  called  '^Prosthetic  Dentistry",  this  is  the  firs 


OF    DENTAL    PROS'JHl^SIS  55 


book  devoted  e.S]jecially  to  this  great  branch  of 
Dental  Science.  This  rare  work  was  considered 
superb  and  contained  forty-two  well  executed  plates. 

Subsequently  to  Dr.  D>ibarre's  volume,  many  publi- 
cations appeared  in  the  French  book-market. 

The  other  European  nations   modeled   after  the 
French  and  English  dental  art  with  the  exception  of 
Germany,   which  land  of  learned  physicians  and  sur- 
geons,   made  additional  progress    in  dental   science. 
Perhaps  the  only  ite'n  pertaining  to  the  German,  art 
of  dental  prosthesis  is  the  mysterious  discovery  near 
Bologna,  Germany.     Some   years    since  while   some 
workmen  were  at  work  digging  a  ditch  through  an  old 
God's  acre, were  obliged  to  excavate  many  graves.  The 
dead  of  course  had  differenciated  to  earth,  but  dozens 
of  artifical  dentures  were  still  remaining  and  in  good 
repair.     The  dentures  were  made  of  ivory  and  bone, 
while  the  plates  were  of  solid  gold.  The  superintendent 
of  the  excavations  thinking  little  of  the  find,  sold  the 
old  dentures  to   a  goldsmith   who    in  turn  thought 
slightly  of  his  purchase  and  remelted  and  refined  the 
precious  metal.     Whether    these  gold  dentures  and 
the  workmanship  of  ancient  dentists,  or  the  product- 
ion of  mediaeval  jewellers,   is  beyond  the  powder  of 
this  generation  to  prove. 


56  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 


American  Dental  Art. 


Dentistry  had  as  yet  received  no  great  impetus, 
nor  had  the  science  met  the  people  that  were  to  re- 
store it  to  its  ancient  dignity  and  even  cherish  and 
foster  its  grand  purpose.  The  latent  beams  of  the 
art  were  destin  ed  however  to  appear  and  we  can  be 
proud  to  say  that  the  initial  steps  towards  progress 
and  attainments  were  taken  in  our  own  dear  native 
land.  It  was  during  the  period  covered  by  our  war 
for  independence  something  over  one  hundred  years 
ago  that  dentistry  was  introduced  into  America,  but 
it  was  yet  in  its  crude  state  and  absent  of  mature 
modern  development.  From  the  most  reliable  in- 
formation obtainable  we  learn  that  a  Mr.  John  Woof- 
endate  of  England  was  the  first  dentist  in  the  new 
world.  He  came  to  the  colonies  about  the  time 
when  New  York  city  was  a  village,  and  practiced 
dentistry  in  New  York  City  and  Philadelphia  from 
1766  to  1768.  at  which  time  he  returned  to  England. 
His  successor  was  Mr.  Joseph  Le  Maire  of  France, 
who  came  to  America  with  the  French  army  during 
the  period  of  the  revolutionary  struggle. 

The   patriotic  Frenchman  La  Maire  was  an  in- 
timate associate  of  both  Washington  and  Lafayette, 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  57 

and  while  fightiag  with  them  for  the  independence 
of  the  colonies  he  often  relieved  the  suffering  soldiers 
of  the  pangs  of  odontalgia.  Not  only  did  he  exer- 
cise his  skill  to  secure  for  the  revolutionary  veterans 
freedom  from  physical  suffering,  but  he  too  seized 
his  sword  and  shouldered  his  gun  and  played  an  ac- 
tive part  in  that  memorable  strife  for  human   liberty. 

Shortly  after  the  establishment  of  the  United 
States  as  an  independent  nation,  an  Englishman,  Dr» 
Whitlock  by  name,  emigrated  to  our  shore  and 
practiced  dentistry  in  the  New  England  states. 
How  long  he  continued  is  not  known,  but  positive 
evidence  can  be  obtained  that  he  landed  in  1784. 

Two  years  later  Dr.  Isaac  Greenwood  emigrat- 
ed from  G-reat  Britain,  and  located  in  Boston  where 
he  practiced  until  his  death.  Mr.  Greenwood's  son 
John  who  was  born  in  America  learned  his  fathers 
chosen  profession  and  thus  was  the  first  native 
American  dentist. 

He  established  himself  in  the  city  of  New  Vork 
and  during  his  professional  career  while  there  im- 
mortalized himself  and  profession  as  well  by  carving 
from  the  tusk  of  the  Hippopotamus  a  full  set  of  art- 
ifical  teeth  for  the  great  American  "who  was  first  in 
war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen".     This    set   of   teeth  was   secured   by 


58  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 


.  Spiral-springs  and  were  intricate  in  their  appearance 
as  compared  with  our  later  dentures.  The  denture 
in  fact  carricatured  the  lower  portion  of  his  noble 
face,  and  they  gave  him  much  discomfort,  and  as 
Senator  William  Maclay  of  that  time  said  "his  voice 
is  hollow  and  indistinct,  owing,  I  believe,  to  artificial 
teeth". 

The  material  used  in  them  was  Hippopotamus 
ivory.  The  lower  plate  was  made  of  one  solid  piece, 
teeth  and  base  being  carved  together;  the  upper  den- 
ture required  greater  skill,  and  was  made  with  the 
plate  seperate,  and  the  teeth  riveted  to  it  with  fine 
gold  rivets.  The  general  had  several  sets  of  teeth, 
but  the  only  one  that  gave  him  any  comfort  where 
those  made  by  Greenwood.  A  Swiss  artist  of  New 
York  City  also  produced  dental  substitutes  for  Wash- 
ington, and  the  following  recently  written  regarding 
this  mechanism  obviously  tells:  "The  plate  or  frame- 
work which  held  the  teeth  in  his  mouth  was  made  of 
iron,  and  after  Washington's  death  were  sent  to  the 
New  York  Loan  Exhibition  in  aid  of  Washington's 
Memorial  Arch,  but  was  deemed  by  the  committee 
too  horrible  to  display;  so  they  locked  it  up  in  a  safe. 
No  one  could  have  dreamed  what  it  was  unless  it 
had  been  labled;  most  spectators  believed  it  to  be  a 
colonial  rat  trap." 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  $9 

Probably  had  it  not  been  for  the  ingenuity  of 
the  first  American  dentist,  Dr.  Greenwood,  the  basic 
structure  of  this  glorious  country  would  have  lacked 
completeness,  by  having  at  an  early  date  lost  its  most 
devoted  father.  A  block  of  marble  might  with 
propriety  have  been  cemented  into  the  monument 
reared  in  memory  of  Washington,  and  in  it  carved  in 
glittering  letters  the  name  of  Dr.  John  Greenwood. 

From  the  time  of  Dr.  Greenwood's  successful 
appliance  for  General  Geo.  Washington  until  1820, 
successors  from  Europe,  and  adaption  of  the  pro- 
fession by  native  born  Americans  greatly  increased 
the  number  of  dentists.  The  darkness  which 
shrouded  scientific  dentistry  in  1700  was  now^  being 
dispelled  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  19th  century, 
with  the  development  of  a  new  political  life  in  the 
American  empire,  saw  dentistry  given  a  professional 
and  social  standing  worthy  of  all  its  importance  in 
alleviating  the  woes  of  the  human  family. 

A  curious  specimen  of  mediaeval  American 
prosthetic  art  is  in  the  custody  of  Dr.  Brophy.  The 
piece  consists  of  ivory,  carved  to  fit  the  upper  and 
lower  jaws.  The  block  was  carved  so  as  to  fit  the 
alveolar-ridge  or  process,  and  on  each  side  a  bicus- 
pid and  two  molars  were  carved  in  the  same  block. 
The  anterior  teeth  consist   of  human  teeth,  fastened 


6o  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

with  gold  to   the  ivory.     The  carving  was  skillfully 
done,   the  sulci  and  cusps  of  the  molar  were  artistic- 
ally reproduced.     The  ivory  however  did  not  resist 
the  actions  of   the  fluids  of  the  mouth,  and  thus  the 
ivory  was  attacked  by  caries   similar  to  the  effect  of 
that  disease  on  the  natural   teeth.     Another  unique 
specimen    of  early  American  dental  skill  is  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  H.  D.  Justi  Dental  Manf'g  Co.  and  they 
have   kindly   allowed    the    cases  to  my   table   that  I 
might  describe  the  crude  workmanship. 

The  first  case,  an  upper  partial  gold  plate  sup- 
plying all  the  teeth  except  the  two  twelve-year  mo- 
lars, is  a  grand  success  and  would  do  credit  even  to- 
day. The  gold  plate  snuggly  fitted  the  alveolar 
process  and  slightly  covered  the  palatal  portion  of 
the  mouth.  The  teeth  which  were  carved  from  the 
tusks  of  the  walrus  were  ingeniously  shaped  and  the 
gold  pins  which  penetrated  the  teeth  from  cutting 
edge  through  the  main  shaft  and  body,  penetrated 
the  gold  plate,  and  were  soldered  to  the  latter  on  the 
palatal  surface.  The  spacing  between  the  teeth  so 
closely  approximates  nature  that  the  wearer  of  this 
denture  could  use  the  tooth-pick  to  good  advantage. 
The  plate  instead  of  clumsily  enveloping  the  two 
natural  molars  has  skillfully  fitted  gold   clasps  which 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  6l 

materially    aided    in    ke«'ping    the    denture    properly 
positioned. 

The  second  case,  a  partial  upper  and  lower 
connected  by  means  of  spiral-springs,  is  an  intricate 
arrangement  but  demonstrated  to  a  dot,  that  the 
primitive  dental  practioners  of  America  were  of  an 
ingenious  order.  The  upper  partial  denture  sup- 
plied the  upper  labial  teeth,  while  the  two  twelve- 
year  natural  molars  were  still  in  position.  The  arti- 
ficial substitutes  were  of  two  kinds,  the  anterior  six 
teeth  were  carved  from  bone  and  attached  with  gold, 
similar  to  modern  methods;  the  bicuspids  and 
molars  instead  of  being  carved  individually  were 
executed  in  one  solid  block,  with  cross  groves  on  the 
cutting  surface  to  represent  the  sulci  of  the  natural 
teeth.  The  entire  block  being  rivited  to  the  gold 
plate  which  simply  followed  the  alveolar  ridge. 
Around  the  natural  molars  were  clasped  two  gold 
bands.  The  lower  denture  was  attached  to  the 
upper  one  with  gold-spiral-springs.  This  denture 
like  the  upper,  was  partial,  and  intented  to  supply 
substitutes  for  the  central  incisors,  one  bicuspids  on 
the  right,  and  two  molars  on  the  left  side  of  the  jaw. 
The  two  central  substitutes  were  human  teeth  im- 
bedded in  a  socket  of  gold  which  received  the  re- 
spective roots  of  the  two   substitutes.       From    the 


62  THE    RISEj    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

centrals  there  was  a  continued  bar  of  platinum,  end- 
ing in  clasps  to  surround  the  lateral  and  bicuspid 
natural  teeth.  The  artificial  molars  and  bicuspids 
were  made  of  one  solid  block  of  bone  and  lines  of 
demarkation,  representing  the  divisional  space  of  the 
teeth.  The  natural  molar  on  the  right  side  was  en- 
circled by  a  platinum  clasp. 

No  matter  how  unique  or  ungraceful  their  first 
attempts  after  their  ideal,  rising  from  step  to  step 
with  progressive  thought,  ever  keeping  in  view  that 
philosophical  principle,  that  he  is  the  greatest  phi- 
lanthropist who  helps  the  greatest  number;  being 
followed  from  time  to  time  and  succeeded  by  others, 
and  from  a  congress  of  thought,  each  new  idea  was 
alike  heralded  to  all,  keeping  no  secrets  but  ever  ex- 
tending the  olive  branch  of  fraternal  peace  and 
kindly  greeting.  The  public  becoming  aware  by  bene- 
fits received  of  its  indispensibility,  gave  to  them  en- 
couragement and  increased  patronage,  and  the  prac- 
ticability of  a  dental  college  was  discussed. 

Enough  at  least  has  been  given  which  conclu- 
sively proves  that  dental  science,  though,  perhaps, 
rude  at  first,  is  not  of  very  recent  origin. 

No  matter  by  whom,  when,  or  by  what  means  it 
first  became  a  thought  and  opened  up  its  petals  to 
receive  the  warmth  and  genial   sunshine  of  a  credul- 


OF    DENTAL    PEOSTHESIS.  63 

ous  people,  it  stands  to-day  one  Of  the  first  and 
noblest  of  the  sciences,  extending  and  taking  in  its 
embrace  almost  every  part  of  every  continent  and 
inhabited  islands  of  the  seas,  and  with  it  all  pertain- 
ing to  its  first  grand  idea,  that  of  doing  good  to 
humanity.  But  not  until  the  eighteenth  century  did 
dentistry  become  the  subject  of  much  critical  inquiry, 
and  thorough  investigation.  Men  of  education  and 
talents  devoted  themselves  to  it  exclusively,  and 
from  that  period  it  has  progressed  rapidly  in  impor- 
tance; and  within  this  brief  period  its  progress  has 
been  so  rapid  that  to  understand  and  expound  the 
whole  extent  of  the  subject  is  already  far  beyond  the 
possible. 

To  the  American  dentists  is  due  the  glory  of 
establishing  nearly  all  the  strides  of  dental  advance^ 
ment,  and  placing  the  profession  in  a  commanding 
position.  The  mechanical  devises,  and  various 
labor  saving  appliances,  and  materials  contributed 
by  them  to  the  advancement  of  dentistry,  are  numer- 
ous and  important,  the  mere  specifying  of  which 
would  consume  hours  of  time. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  American  donation 
to    dental  art  is   the  production  of  porcelain  teeth. 
This  industry  was  an  outgrowth  of  prosthetic   dent 
istry.     Though  of   French  origin,  their  perfection  is 


64  THE    KISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

due  entirely  to  the  untiring  efforts  of  the  American 
manufacturer. 

To  Drs.  A.  A.  Plantou  and  C.  W.  Peale  of 
Philadelphia,  must  be  awarded  the  credit  of  manu- 
factoring  in  1820  the  first  porcelain  teeth  in  the 
country;  but  S.  W.  Stockton  of  Philadelphia,  and 
James  Alcock  of  New  York,  in  1835  began  their 
production  upon  a  more  extended  scale,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  the  profession  at  large,  and 
thus  initiated  an  industry  which  has  gained  remark- 
able proportions.  The  present  degree  of  perfection 
in  moulding  and  enamelling  the  teeth  was  not  at- 
tained until  some  years  later,  nor  was  the  color  so 
lifelike,  or  the  shades  so  varied.  For  many  years 
after  the  introduction  of  porcelain  teeth,  the  b^t 
artisans  were  unable  to  make  them  sufficiently  perfect 
in  form,  and  in  color,  to  give  good  appearance  in  the 
mouth.  The  porcelain  teeth  were  indestructible  by  the 
oral  secretions  while  the  then  popular  carved  blocks 
of  ivory  decayed,  became  offensive  and  were  eventu- 
ally destroyed.  This  latter  difficulty  with  the  ivory 
•teeth  rendered  the  porcelain  teeth  very  desirable^  and 
in  conseqence  improvement  in  their  manufacture  con- 
tinued. Americans  have  been  very  successful  in  this 
form  of  advance,  and  mainly  instrumental  in  bringing 
he  manufacture  to  its  present  high  state  of  perfect- 


OF    DENIAL    PROSTHESIS  65 

ion.  So  far  indeed  has  this  art  of  tooth  production 
from  Felspar,  Silex  and  Kaolin  been  developed  that 
any  dental  form,  and  coloring  desirable  can  be  rend- 
ered so  as  to  deceive  any  but  the  trained  eye  of  an 
expert.  These  improvements  in  the  fabrication  of 
porcelain  teeth,  which  have  so  admirably  displayed 
the  possibilities  of  the  manufactors  in  the  transpar- 
ency of  the  tooth,  the  granulated  appearance  and 
flesh-like  tint  of  the  gums,  and  the  unlimited  shades 
were  due  to  the  persistency  of  Dr.  Elias  Wildman  of 
Philadelphia,  who  began  his  numerous  experiments 
in  1837. 

In  1844  Samuel  S.  White  a  nephew  of  Samuel 
W.  Stockton  began  the  production  of  these  teeth  in 
Philadelphia,  and  this  was  the  initiatory  step  in  an 
enterprise  which  has  since  grown  to  be  the  largest  of 
its  kind  in  the  world. 

Numerous  improvements  are  accredited  to  Mr. 
S.  S.  White,  but  not  all  the  comment  does  he  reap, 
since  shortly  after  his  attempts  and  experiments  H. 
D.  Justi  of  Philidelphia,  believing  that  he  too,  saw  an 
opportunity  for  improving  the  asthetic  effects  of 
porcelain  teeth  laboriously  toiled  to  reach  the  goal 
of  perfection  in  the  yet  crude  art. 

Dentistry  seemed  destined  to  rise  as  a  learned 
science  and  profession  ;  and  able  artists  in  all  parts 


66  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

of  our  country  lent  a  helping  hand  to  establish  the 
truths  of  Dental  Science;  and  among  the  many  de- 
pots, shops  and  factories  which  have  aided  in  this 
good  work  we  find  those  of  Johnston,  Lund  &  Co. 
More  recently  the  Willmington  Dental  Menufacturing 
Co.,  and  various  others  have  loomed  above  the 
horizon,  and  these  too,  are  companies  whose  artists 
are  highly  skilled  in  cerrnic  work. 

The  various  dental  companies  are  now  producing 
all  the  various  appliances,  instruments  and  material ; 
it  is  estimated  that  not  less  than  100,000  teeth  a 
month,  or  nearly  12,000,000  per  anmim  are  manu- 
factured in  America  alone. 

All  this  present  perfection  and  completeness  has 
not  been  brought  to  us  in  a  single  birth;  but  on  the 
contrary  required  time,  patience,  talent  and  expense. 

About  the  same  time  that  the  several  dental 
companies  were  devoting  their  attention  to  the 
newly  discovered  art,  the  individual  dentists  too,  were 
busy  calculating  on  the  self  same  subject.  The  re- 
sult was  that  early  in  1850  Dr.  John  Allen  a  disting- 
uished dental  practitioner  devised  a  method  embrac- 
ing original  and  important  modifications  in  the 
asthetic  shapes,  colors  and  arrangement  of  the  dental 
substitutes.  The  exactness  with  which  Dr.  Allen 
represented  tlie  natural  gum-tissue,  gave  to  his  process 


♦  OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  67 

and  discovery,  the  name  of  Continuous  Gum  work. 
The  intimate  but  later  identification  of  Drs.  Hunter 
and  Haskell  with  Continuous  Gum  work  have  rend- 
ered their  names  familliar,  as  being  skilled  an  devoted 
to  this  specialty  of  Prosthetic  Dentistry  ;  and  their 
respective  contributions  to  the  developement  of  a 
perfect  process  in  the  departure,  has  done  much  to- 
wards establishing  for  the  dental  profession  a  lasting 
glory. 

The  announcement  in  185 1  of  Nelson  Goodyear's 
process  for  making  the  hard-rubber  compound,  sub- 
stantially termed  '^Vulcanite'*,  turned  the  attention 
of  those  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  various 
small  articles  for  use  and  ornament,  to  the  adoption 
of  this  material  which  was  announced  as  a  substitute 
for  horn,  bone  and  ivory,  susceptible  of  being  colored 
and  possessing  the  plasticity  of  gutta  percha,  while 
it  was  exempt  from  the  actions  of  heat,  cold  and 
acids. 

In  i^SS  ^^"^^  ^'^'st  patent  was  obtained  for 
making  a  dental  plate  in  hard  rubber.  The  intro- 
duction of  vulcanite  into  the  profession  materially 
injured  the  general  tone  of  dexterity,  and  science 
among  the  dentists;  the  ease  with  which  vulcanite  is 
worked  invited  many  into  the  profession,  who  were 
utterly  unfit  and  incapable  of  scientiffically  replacing 


68  THE    RISE,    FALL   AND   REVIVAL 


the  lost  organs.  Prior  to  the  invention  of  Good- 
year's  the  dentist  was  obliged  to  be  more  than  a  mere 
mechanic,  since  the  various  metals  were  then  used  as 
bases  for  the  dentures. 

Celluloid  like  vulcanized  rubber,  a  cheap  base 
for  artificial  dentures  was  first  introduced  in  1869, 
and  during  the  existance  of  the  "Rubber  Patents", 
was  much  used  by  those  who  objected  to  become 
licencees  of  the  Goodyear  Rubber  Company.  The 
advantages  claimed  for  celluloid  were,  its  unlimited 
artistic  possibilities,  resemblance  in  color  to  the 
natural  tissues,  readily  tolerated  by  mucous  membrane 
elasticity  under  strain  adaptability  for  partials  or 
complete  dentures  and  the  readiness  with  which  it 
could  be  applied  to  the  correction  or  concealment  of 
all  oral  deformities. 

But  celluloid  like,  we  hope,  rubber  too,  "has 
seen  the  days  of  triumph",  and  every  dentist  who  has 
the  welfare  of  this  profession  at  heart,  is  pronounced 
in  his  desire  to  see  all  cheap  and  injurious  plastic, 
base-dentures  shelved,  thus  to  make  room  for  the 
furtherance  of  our  acquaintance  with  metals  and  nu- 
merous other  materials  for  dental  plates. 

An  incidental  but  most  important  advantage  to 
dentistry  accompanying  the  revival  of  gold-crown 
and    bridge-work,    is    the    requirement    of  increased 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  69 

manipulative  and  artistic  skill  on  the  part  of  the 
operator.  The  character  of  a  large  proportion  of 
the  vulcanite  work  of  the  last  few  years  has  a  sul- 
phurous oder  about  it  suggestive  of  the  di(\.3ige,facilis 
est  descensus  Ave  mi.  To  such  a  facile  method  of 
constructing  artificial  dentures  is  due'  the  advent  of  a 
class  of  dentists  who  have  "picked  up  the  business" 
in  a  few  months  of  untutored  experiment.  To  clumsy, 
disfiguring  dentures,  so  bulky  as  to  impair  speech,  and 
so  incompletely  finished,  as  to  occasion  sore  mouths, 
have  been  chargeable  in  great  degree  the  discomforts 
and  diseases  attributed  to  the  vulcanite  base. 

The  increasing  demand  for  dentures  on  gold 
bases  must  of  necessity  raise  the  standard  of  quali- 
fication for  dental  practice.  For  the  promotion  of 
this  most  desirable  end  the  dental  society  clinics,  in- 
creasing as  they  are  alike  in  frequency  and  in^interest,. 
have  become  potent  factors. 

If  you  possess  the  requisite  skill,  and  will  do 
yourself  the  justice  to  use  it,  you  can  make  even  a 
rubber  plate  that  will  not  disgrace  you,  and  get  paid 
for  it  too.  While  visiting  different  offices,  I  have 
often  been  amused  at  the  assumed  airs  "Oh  I  never 
dirty  my  hands  with  that  class  of  work,  I  leave  that 
to  the  cheap  Johns,  or,  as  they  say  down  South,  'I 
have  a  nigger  to  do  my  plate  work'  '\     Occasionally 


THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 


you  fmd  one  old  in  the  profession  who  delegate  the 
*';//<'r/ed'«7V£?/ to  the  shops".  vSuch  almost  invariably 
demonstrated  the  fact  that  they  are  not  capable  of 
constructing  a  decent  artificial  case.  The  renowned 
Josephs  of  San  Francisco  said:  "After  twenty  years 
experience,  the  first  thing  I  would  impress  upon  a 
tyro  is  that  fiddle-making  is  a  trade  but  violin-making 
is  an  art."  Tooth  filling  as  well  as  plate-making  is 
too  often  a  mere  trade,  but  properly  restoring  loss 
with  artificial  teeth,  with  all  that  is  implied  in  the 
operation,  is  the  acme  of  dental  art,  if  there  is  any 
a?'t  in  dentistry. 

To-day  the  vast  variety  in  shape,  size,  color, 
etc..  of  the  porcelain  teeth,  gives  opportunity  for  tbe 
selection  of  forms  suitable  to  nearly  every  case  which 
presents  itself  to  the  general  practitioners.  The 
assortment  must  of  necessity  be  very  large  and  varied 
to  meet  the  wants  of  the  prosthetic  dentist. 

Porcelain  is  a  material  in  which  the  beauty  of 
the  result  well  repays  the  highest  exercise  of  art.  It 
has  been  for  centuries  the  favorite  material  for  ex- 
pressing the  poetry  of  Form.  The  famous  Etrurian 
vases  of  antiquity,  the  exquisite  gems  of  the  Majolica 
of  the  sixteenth  century  may  be  named  in  proof  of 
the  fitness  of  porcelain  to  embody  the  conception  of 
Genius. 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  7^ 


Dental  porcelain  is  worthy  of  such  associations; 
not  only  like  them  does  it  delight  the  eye  and  give 
evidence  of  high  aesthetic  cultivation,  but  it  adds  to 
beauty  the  charm  of  usefulness. 

It  is  customary  to  attribute  the  rapid  growth  of 
Dental  Art  since  1840,  to  dental  associations,  col- 
leges, journals  and  its  didactic  literature —and  worth 
much  truth.  But  to  porcelain  it  owes  its  very  exist- 
ence as  an  aesthetic  art,  and  the  largest  extent  and 
utility  as  a  prosthetic  science.  It  was  altogether 
impossible  for  perishable  human  teeth,  or  their 
wretched  imitations  in  ivory,  to  offer  such  tempting 
fac- similes  of  nature  as  we  meet  in  porcelain  pro- 
ductions. 

The  dental  depots  not  only  rendered  service  by 
superior  excellence  of  surgical  instrumeits,  and  pros- 
thetic appliances  and  material,  but  they  directly 
benefited  the  science  and  art  of  dentistry  by  releasing 
the  practitioners  from  the  manufacturing  toil,  and 
give  them  time  for  the  acquirement  of  increased 
knowledge  and  skill  in  the  various  departments  of 
Dental  Science. 

Few  people  can  comprehend,  and  fewer  still  thor- 
oughly appreciate  the  many  noble  favors  the  dental 
profession  deals  out  to  suffering  humanity.  Among 
the  myriads  of  grand  achi-evements  wrought,  very  few 


72  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

excell,  the  prosthetic  accomplishments  in  the  cure, 
and  relief  of  deformed  palatine  organs,  or  what  is 
known  to  surgeons  by  the  name  of  cleft  palate. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  distressing  deformities 
to  which  the  human  frame  is  liable.  The  unfortunate 
suiferer  is  compelled,  in  a  great  measure,  to  be  an 
alien  among  his  fellow  creatures;  an  object  of  com- 
passion to  the  considerate,  he  is  often  made  painfully 
conscious  of  his  deformity  by  heartless  companions. 
And  were  he  gifted  with  eloquence  of  Demosthenes 
or  Webster  he  could  make  little  more  use  of  his  en- 
dowments than  a  mute.  Fortunately  this  painful 
defect,  which  may  be  either  accidental  or  congenital, 
is  no  longer  reckoned  one  of  the  uncurable,  since 
dental  prosthesis  has  risen  to  the  present  pinacle  of 
perfection.  The  same  is  true  with  reference  to  ir- 
regular teeth  and  malformations  of  the  jaw  in  general. 

Probably  no  feature  in  the  annals  of  dentistry  is 
worthy  of  so  much  comment  and  merits  such  deep 
consideration,  as  the  subject  of  crown  and  bridge- 
work.  For  the  past  few  years  it  has  been  a  subject 
of  overwhelming  magnitude,  and  to-day  is  the  tidal 
wave  in  the  Dental  Prosthesis,  stirring  to  eloquence 
its  admirers,  and  agitating  the  dental  fraternity  in  an 
effort  to  establish  its  worth  or  uselessness. 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  73 

In  searching  for  the  history  of  crown-work,  we 
are  utterly  dumfounded,  and  upon  becoming  cogniz- 
able with  its  antiquity,  we  are  almost  prompted  to 
chronicle  it  as  a  lost  art,  recklessly  omitted  in  the  list 
of  ancient  advertisements.  The  operation  of  pivoting 
teeth,  synonomous  to  our  modern  crowns,  is  one  ot 
the  primitive  methods  of  replacing  lost  natural  ones, 
and  it  is  indeed  debatable,  whether  the  plate  pre- 
ceeded  the  pivot,  or  ^^vice  versd'\ 

Historical  thesis  unfortunately  left  but  few 
"foot-prints  on  the  sands  of  time",  and  in  consequence 
are  much  at  loss  as  to  the  data  of  the  subject.  The 
artificial  replacement  of  the  loss  of  a  portion  of  the 
teeth  by  crowns,  was  first  written  about  by  Robert 
Mofendale  in  1783,  when  he  wrote  regarding  the  act 
of  joining  artificial  crowns  to  the  roots  of  natural 
teeth;  he  tells,  that  where  the  enamel  had  suffered 
severe  destruction,  it  was  advisable  to  cut  oif  the 
injured  remaining  portion  of  same,  and  replace  by 
means  of  an  artificial  one,  and  he  dwelt  elaborately 
on  the  wonderful  stability  of  such  a  piece  of  work. 
It  is  extremely  difficult,indeed, almost  impossible  to  ar- 
rive at  anything  like  certainty  in  determining  priority 
of  invention  or  introduction  of  any  improvements 
earlier  than  1839,  at  which  date  recorded  history  of 
dentistry  was  inaugurated  by  was   a  dental  Journal. 


74  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

Statements  are  made  pro  and  con  relative  to  crown- 
work  and  its  early  popularity.  Scrap,  dental  litera- 
ture bears  witness,  that  in  1807  and  1804,  current 
newspapers  contained  lengthy  articles  on  the  "art  of 
restoring  roots  of  teeth  by  means  of  wire-pivots, 
wooden-pivots,  cotton-wrapped  pivots,  and  screw- 
pivots". 

I  deem  it  unnecessary  to  enter  into  a  detailed  de- 
scription of  the  numerous  new  and  improved  modern 
crowns,  and  it  would  be  an  extensive  work  that  would 
treat  of  each  and  every  method  of  construction. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  Drs.  Lawrence,  Foster,  Bean, 
Richardson,  Buttner,  Thomas,  Leech,  Webb,  Wil- 
liams, Hay,  Boice,  Weston,  Carman,  Hunter,  Bonwell, 
Davis,  How,  Logan,  Richmond,  Land  and  Evans, 
have  contributed  a  commendable  amount  towards 
bringing  the  artificial  crown  within  the  rays  of  per- 
fection. 

True,  we  have  seen  marked  advancements  in  the 
construction  and  appliance  of  the  various  crown 
substitutes,  and  bow  in  all  homage  to  pay  tribute  to 
those  great  minds  who  conceived  the  grand  and 
satisfactory  results.  Shall  we  honor  most  the  prac- 
titioners who  first  wrought  the  happy  means,  or  those 
who  later  perfected  it,  is  one  of  those  questions  which 
would  be  interesting  grounds  for  debate. 


OF    DENIAL    PROSTHESIS  75 

As  to  the  history  of  bridge-work,  we  are  about 
as  knowing,  as  can  be  expected  on  account  of  exist- 
ing circumstances;  in  brief,  the  developments  in  this 
departure  are  not  unlike  those  of  crown-work  and 
the  same  catalogue  of  dentists  names  adorn  its  tabular 
record,  with  the  exception  that  the  names  of  Drs . 
Bing,  Case,  Brown,  Starr  and  Melott  are  directly- 
connected  with  the  numerous  steps  of  improvement. 

It  was  not  until  1839  ^^^^^  ^^7  niovement  in  the 
way  of  organization  was  made  on  the  part  of  Ameri- 
can Dentists  to  elevate  their  profession,  to  a  strictly 
educational  basis.  In  view  of  uniting  the  widely 
separated  members  of  the  profession,  a  medium  was 
established  in  the  form  of  the  American  Journal  and 
Library  of  Dental  Science .  The  journal  was  pub- 
lished in  Baltimore  and  ably  edited  by  Chapin  A. 
Harris  and  Eleazer  Parmly.  In  connection  with  this 
movement,  it  Avas  the  ambition  of  Dr.  Harris  to  or- 
ganize a  dental  school  as  adjunct  to  the  medical  de- 
partment of  the  University  of  Maryland.  The 
practice  of  dentistry  at  this  time,  however,  being  with 
few  exceptions  at  a  very  low  ebb,  the  faculty  of  the 
university,  rejected  the  proposition  of  Dr.  Harris, 
they  giving  as  an  excuse,  that  the  subject  of  dentistry 
was  of  little  consequence  and  thus  justified  their 
unfavorable  action.     The  rejection  seemed   to  give 


76  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

Dr.  Harris  new  energy  and  stimulated  in  him  a  new 
desire,  and  as  a  result  the  Baltimore  College  of  Dental 
>5urgery  was  established;  and  in  due  time  labeled  with 
dignity  and  honor  a  small  class  of  "Doctors  of 
Dental  Surgery". 

Thus  a  system  of  education  was  initiated,  which 
immediately  placed  the  practitioners  of  dentistry 
upon  an  equal  footing  with  other  liberal  professions. 
All  hail  the  banner  of  the  old  Baltimore  College  of 
Dental  Surgery,  the  progenitor  of  much  good  and  the 
Alma  Mater  of  Alma  Maters,  claiming  among  her 
Collegiate  Alumni,  your  adopted  mother. 

Thus  with  this  college  as  the  nucleus  many 
prototypes  have  since  been  generated,  and  the  good 
eftect  these  various  institutions  have  on  the  public, 
none  can  more  sincerely  testify  than  suffering  hu- 
manity. The  profession  and  as  well  its  many  faith- 
ful representatives,  have  steadily  but  surely  risen, 
never  again  to  fall. 

In  1800  there  were  but  one  hundred  dentists  in 
the  United  States,  ten  years  later  there  were  three 
hundred  representatives  of  the  profession,  while  to- 
day we  have  a  congress  of  twenty-thousand. 

What  is  true  of  the  increase  in  colleges  and 
professional  practitioners  is  of  necessity  true  of  the 
journals   and   literature   pertaining  to  this  great  and 


9 

OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  77 


wonderful  science.  The  initial  dental  periodical  we 
find  was  the  American  Journal  and  Library  of 
Dental  Science,  established  in  Baltimore  in  1839. 
Following  its  publications,  and  up  to  the  present 
time,  there  have  been  about  forty-five  (45)  period- 
icals established  ostensibly  in  the  interest  of  dent- 
istry. While  many  of  these  had  an  ephemeral 
existence,  others  have  lived  well  and  do  worthy  serv- 
ice in  their  strict  devotion  to  the  profession,  and 
among  these  latter  we  proudly  refer  to  the  Cosmos, 
Review,  International,  Items  of  Interest,  Ohio 
Journal,  Register,  Western,  Southern,  Odontographic, 
Missiouri,  Practitioner,  Advertiser,  World  and 
last  but  hopefully  not  least  the  Weekly  Tribune.  I 
here  wish  to  call  your  attention  that  our  transatlantic 
friends  too,  have  been  occupied  in  the  cherished 
purpose  of  establishing  for  dentistry  a  glorious 
future,  and  have  inaugurated  many  worthy  principles 
through  the  medium  of  colleges  and  journals. 

These  various  journals  did  eminent  service,  in, 
my  research,  and  the  records  of  dentistry  contained 
in  these  monthly  educators  are  the  safe  archives  of 
the  profession,  where  we  may  trace  the  present  dental 
progress  back  to  those  traditional  ages,  when  too 
our  favorite  vocation  prospered  and  attained  that 
semi-state  of  perfection. 


78  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 


But  we  must  not  rob  the  modern  dentists  of  all 
the  laurels  and  glories,  for  he  certainly  has  many  of 
both.  The  days  of  unwieldy  instruments  and  rude 
operators  are  now  in  oblivion,  and  in  their  stead  we 
find  instruments  and  appliances  complete  in  every 
respect,  and  practitioners  who  are  as  mild  a  class  of 
men  as  ever  played  the  lute  or  sang  the  songs  of  love. 

It  was  in  the  spirit  of  advancement  and  a  love 
for  the  beautiful  that  the  dental  infant  was  taken 
from  the  barbershop,  and  raised  to  the  high  and 
ennobling  position  it  now  occupies.  And  who  has 
wrought  this  most  desirable  change?  None  else  than 
the  ingenious  and  persevering  modern  dentist.  The 
dental  office  is  no  longer  a  prison  of  torture;  but  on 
the  other  hand  is  a  welcome  resort  for  suffering 
humanity.  To  accomplish  this  good  end,  has  cost 
the  burning  of  much  midnight  oil;  and  many  of  the 
energetic  minds  who  have  labored  vigorously  in  this 
most  beneficient  cause,  are  now  timbering  in  the 
cities  of  the  dead. 

It  is  said,  that  "a  poet  is  born,  not  made",  and 
this  old  saw  is  in  a  certain  sense  applicable  to  the 
dentist.  In  order  to  advance  and  be  successful  in 
the  dental  profession,  the  practitioner  must  have 
certain  definite  qualifications  and  inclinations.  And 
these  essentials  must  be  his  or  her  natural  bend  of 


OF    DENTAl'    PROSTHESIS.  79 


character.  Among  the  requests  of  a  model  dentist 
the  most  important  are:  That  peculiar  quality  which 
makes  the  successful  surgeon  coupled  with  mechan- 
ical ingenuity,  dexterity,  studiousness,  and  last  but 
far  from  least,  the  patience  of  Job.  Perhaps  the 
reason  why  there  are  so  many  lamentable  failures 
among  the  practioners  of  dentistry  at  the  present 
time  is  because  so  many  enter  the  profession  wdth 
the  sole  and  whole  purpose  of  gathering  the  supposed 
hoards  of  money  which  are  believed  to  be  accessible  to 
its  votaries.  But  how  soon  are  the  plans  and  antici- 
pations ^ofth^se -empirics  frustrated  when  they 
find  they  are  not  adapted  to  their  chosen  work;  un- 
fitted for  the  science,  they  drop  by  the  way.  They 
are  allowed  admission  into  the  labyrinthal  high- 
way, but  soon  are  lost  and  bewildered,  among  the 
'•ologies  '  and  *'isms"  of  the  professions.  Dentistry 
i»»  too  high  a  science  for  the  gross  and  unskilled  to 
appreciate  the  aesthetic  beauties  of  its  art.  The 
modern  dentist  must  be  in  the  full  sense  of  the  words 
a  "facial  sculptor",  for  to  his  tender  care  and  con- 
sideration is  left  the  moulding?  of  manv  a  scowl  or 
smile.  He  must  appreciate  the  lines  of  beauty  in 
expression  and  discern  at  a  glance  the  changes  nec- 
essary in  the  different  physiognomy  to  make  them 
charming  and  inviting,  rather  than  repellent  and  false . 


8o  THE    KISE,    FALL   AND    REVIVAL 

In  prosthetic  dentistry  and  dental  surgery  the 
sculptoral  genius  is  certainly  afforded  an  opportunity 
to  exercise  his  art,  since  it  is  in  these  departments 
of  dentistry  that  the  study  of  the  face  is  most  essen- 
tial. The  face  is  divine  territory  which  solicits  the 
prosthetic  dentist's  sincerest  consideration.  The 
face  to  him  is  the  window  to  the  brain,  the  avenue 
to  mind  and  character.  I'he  face  is  the  servant  of 
the  emotions;  it  mirrors  the  feelings,  and  gives  ex- 
pression to  impulses.  It  is  the  visible  record,  the 
map  of  the  heart  proclaiming  the  character  of  the 
individual  to  all,  who  can  read.  The  symbols  of 
character  which  are  unmistakably  in  the  face,  are 
not  occult  and  secret,  but  are  open  and  plain  that 
even  a  child  may  read,  and  know  distinctly  the 
heart  of  its  owner.  Now  since  the  distinctive  feat- 
ure of  dental  prosthesis  is  "Restoration",  you  can 
readily  comprehend  why  the  dentist  is  continually 
sought  to  restore  faces,  must  of  necessity  be  thor- 
oughly prepared  to  restore  the  lost  features,  —  and 
rebuild  the  symbols  of  individuality  and  character. 
He  must  have  a  clear  conception  of  the  outlines  of 
that  which  is  to  be  established,  and  constantly  have 
the  imaginary  ideal  vividly  before  him.  In  all  grand 
works  of  man  the  ideal  was  ever  the  basis  of  the  real. 
In  our  own  modern  city  take  for  example    the  mag- 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTUKSIS.  8r 

nificent  Auditorium,  with  all  its  halls,  porticoes,  en- 
trances, pillars,  stairways,  arches,  balconies,  and 
tower,  was  all  designed  by  the  architect  in  all  its 
grand  proportions,  and  arrangements  before  the 
foundation  stone  was  laid.  The  sculptor  who  chis- 
eled from  the  huge  misshapen  block  the  almost  living 
and  breathing  figure  of  Abraham  Lincoln  in  a  park 
by  his  name  saw  in  the  rough  stone  the   ideal  statue. 

Dr.  AUport  once  said:  He  who  has  but 
moderate  ideas  of  symetry,  harmony  of  expression 
and  color,  is  constantly  pained  by  lack  of  that 
artistic  selection  and  arrangem.ent  of  artificial  teeth 
which  serve  to  restore  to  the  face  the  shape  and 
expression  left  upon  it  by  the  Creator,  the  absence  of 
which  in  artificial  dentures  stamps  him  who  should 
be  an  artist  an  artisan  —  a  mere  mechanic — a  libeller 
of  the  soul — a  defor7fier  of  humane  face  divined  We 
can  only  know  how  thoroughly  scientific,  artistic 
and  technical  the  restoration  of  the  face  is  when  we 
hearken  to  that  great  lecturer  Fuseli  who  says:  It 
the  nose  of  Apollo  be  shortened  but  one-sixteenth  of 
an  inch  the  god  of  physical  beauty  would  be  de- 
stroyed." If  this  be  true,  which  it  certainly  is.  it 
should  lead  us  to  be  very  cautious  as  to  the  duty  of 
our  calling,  and  ever  remember  that  the  perfect 
restoration    of   the    countenance,    with    the    original 


§2  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

power  of   expression   by  art,   as  to  defy  detection,  is 
one  of  the  crowning  glories  of  dental  prosthesis. 

This  branch  of  dental  science  is  as  a  general 
thing  underestimated  inasmuch  that  those  who  have 
made  a  speciality  of  it  have  failed  to  bring  to  light 
the  many  grand  principles  that  underlie  this  most 
deserving  speciality.  I  can  do  no  fairer  justice  to 
the  subject  of  prerequisite  qualifications  of  the 
student  of  dental  prosthesis  than  by  quoting  the  able 
scholar  Dr.  W.  W.  Allport  who  says: 

"It  is  in  prosthetic  dentistry  the  dentist  has  the 
greater  field  for  the  use  of  art.  It  is  for  him  to  so 
construct  substitutes  for  the  natural  teeth  that  they 
will  harmonize  with  the  works  of  the  Creator  that 
surround  them,  and  be  so  true  to  nature  in  size, 
shape,  color  and  position  that  they  will  not  produce 
discord  in  the.  facial  expression.  There  is  an  individ- 
uality in  everything  that  God  has  made.  There 
are  no  two  blades  of  grass,  no  two  flowers,  two  faces, 
two  eyes,  nor  are  there  any  two  sets  of  teeth,  that 
are  alike.  They  may  be  similar  in  type,  but  not  in 
detail,  and  it  is  this  detail  that  gives  the  specific 
individuality  by  which  we  are  enabled  to  tell  one 
from  the  other.  Between  these  details  there  is  a 
harmony  that  makes  any  one  part  a  fit  companion  of 
its  surroundings.     Any  important  change  in    any  ot 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  $$ 

these  details  would  —  to  the  extent  of  the  change 
made  —  alter  the  individuality  of  the  original.  As 
there  are  no  two  things  exactly  alike  in  nature,  there 
can  be  no  exact  rules  by  which  anything  in  nature 
can  be  imitated.  There  are,  however,  rules  which 
may  be  aids  in  producing  general  outlines,  but  it  is 
the  soul  and  feeling  of  the  artist  that  works  out  the 
details  which  gives  life  to  the  substitute.  A 
mechanic,  pure  and  simple,  may  construct  a  set  of 
teeth  and  make  them  serviceable  to  the  wearer,  inas" 
much  as  they  will  fit  and  be  strong  and  useful  in 
mastication.  But  only  he  who  has  the  artistic  feel- 
ing and  skill  will  be  able  to  select  his  materials  and 
so  adapt  them  in  the  mouth  that  they  will  harmonize 
with  the  complexion  and  anatomy  of  the  face  and  be 
true  to  nature.  From  infancy  to  old  age  there  is  har- 
mony in  contour,  as  well  as  in  color,  and  there  is 
change  and  adaption,  of  one  to  the  other  at  every 
stage  of  life.  The  hair  that  would  be  becoming  to  a 
girl  of  sixteen,  would  not  be  suited  to  the  same  per- 
son at  sixty.  Hence  nature  changes  the  color  of  the 
hair  to  be  in  keeping  with  the  face  as  age  advances. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  teeth;  all  change  and  grow 
old  together,  and  there  is  beauty  in  age  only  as  there 
is  harmony.  To  attempt,  therefore,  to  make  the  face 
look  younger   or  more  attractive   by  making  any  one 


84  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

part  of  it  appear  younger  than  is  natural,  is  a  great 
mistake,  for  the  other  parts  suffer  by  an  inharmon- 
ious contrast  which  always  unpleasantly  attracts 
attention. 

In  applying  this  idea  to  the  selection  and  adap- 
tation of  artificial  teeth,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  how 
very  important  it  is  that  he  who  gives  his  attention 
to  this  branch  of  industry  should  not  only  be  a  good 
mechanic,  but  should  possess  that  art  feeling  that 
will  enable  him  to  appreciate  the  importance  of 
physical  harmony.  If  he  does  not  possess  this 
quality,  he  will  be  a  mechanical  dentist  only.  His 
work  maybe  useful  for  mastication,  but  the  face  will 
be  apt  to  look  ^'toothy".  To  produce  this  appearance 
the  teeth  need  not  of  necessity  be  too  large  for*  the 
face.  In  fact,  artificial  teeth  are  usually  smaller 
than  were  the  natural,  and  yet  they  give  the  appear- 
ance of  which  I  have  spoken  —  as  it  is  usually  the 
inharmonious  color,  rather  than  the  size  of  the  teeth 
that  is  at  fault.  The  first,  as  well  as  the  most  last- 
ing, impression  made  on  the  beholder  of  the  in- 
dividual will  be  the  teeth,  whereas  they  should  be  so 
thoroughly  in  keeping  with  the  rest  of  the  face  that 
they  will  attract  no  more  attraction  than  any  other 
feature. 

One  of  the  prerequisites  to   the  study  and  prac- 


OF    DENTAL   PROSTHESIS.  85 

tice  of  this  specialty  is  a  talent  for  and  knowledge  of 
art.  The  proportion  of  good  artists  who  could  have 
made  good  mechanics  is  very  large,  while  the  pro- 
portion of  good  mechanics  who  could  have  made 
good  artists  is  very  small.  A  person  may  have 
great  mechanical  ability,  but  little  or  no  artistic 
sense.  There  are  few  dentists  who  have  any  idea  of 
proportion  or  feeling  for  color.  This  is  why  we  see 
so  many  mouths  filled  with  abominably  unnatural 
looking  artificial  teeth,  and  this  condition  of  things 
will  never  be  greatly  improved  till  more  attention  is 
given  to  art  in  this  department  of  practice.  It  would 
be  useless  to  attempt  to  develop  this  talent  in  every 
dental  student,  for  probably  not  more  than  one  in 
twenty-five,  or  perhaps  fifty,  could  respond  to  the 
demand,  should  they  be  encouraged  to  follow  dental 
prosthesis  as  a  calling. 

Artistic  ability,  therefore,  should  be  among  the 
first  requisites  to  the  study  and  in  the  practice  of 
prosthetic  dentistry.  It  would  be  far  better  for  those 
who  engage  in  its  practice  to  have  acquired  a  theor- 
etical, as  well  as  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  leading 
ideas  of  proper  proportions,  modeling,  drawing  and 
harmony  of  colors,  rather  than  to  have  studied  so 
much  of  medicine  as  is  usually  taught  in  dental 
colleges." 


86  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    RETIVAL 

On  this  same  subject  Dr.  Joseph  Richardson,  one 
of  the  beacon-lights  of  Dental  Prosthesis,  says: — 

"Among  the  unnumbered  millions  of  human 
beings  who  have  peopled  the  earth  since  the  dawn  of 
time,  it  may  be  affirmed  that  no  two  have  been 
created  with  faces  exactly  alike.  There  is  the  same 
aggregate  of  features,  and  a  pervading  general  re- 
semblance of  one  person  to  another,  but  there  will  be 
found  as  infinite  a  multiplication  of  distinct  shades  of 
facial  expression  as  there  are  human  faces,  and  each 
■separate  shade  of  expression  characteristic  of  each 
one,  and  distinguishing  him  or  her  from  all  others, 
constitutes  facial  individuality.  Each  separate  feature 
— as  the  eye,  the  nose,  the  mouth,  the  teeth,  facial 
contour,  complexion,  temperament,  etc. — contributes 
to  this  individuality,  and  no  one  special  feature  more, 
perhaps,  than  the  teeth.  There  are  few  more  repuls- 
ive deformities  than  those  inflicted  by  the  loss  of 
these  origans,  and  none  more  fatal  to  the  habitual 
and  characteristic  expression  of  the  individual.  It 
is  the  special  mission,  as  it  is  the  first  and  highest 
duty,  of  the  dentist  to  preserve  this  individuality  in- 
tact, and  an  equally  imperative  duty  to  restore  it  as 
perfectly  as  possible  when  impaired.  To  fullfil  in 
the  most  perfect  manner  possible  this  most  difficult 
of  all  the  requirements  of  prosthetic  practice  implies 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  87 

an  art  culture  that  is  competent  to  interpret  the 
distinct  plaj  of  features  associated  with  individual 
physiognomies,  to  differentiate  individual  tempera- 
ments, and  make  available  the  sculptor's  and  painter's 
perceptions  of  the  subtile  harmonies  of  form  and 
color.  To  the  failure  or  inability  to  properly  com- 
prehend the  practical  import  or  significance  of  in- 
dividual characteristics,  so  far  as  they  fixed  expression 
in  the  teeth,  and  the  consequent  failure  to  conform 
our  methods  of  replacement  to  the  imperative  re- 
quirements of  art,  may  be  fairly  ascribed  the  deserved 
reproach  into  which  prosthetic  practice  has  fallen, 
and  not,  as  is  generally  charged,  to  the  employment 
of  any  particular  material  or  methods  concerned  in 
the  mechanical  execution  of  the  work." 

Thus,  a  good  dentist  should,  indeed,  be  a  man 
of  great  refinement  of  artistic  conception  with  a  true 
sense  of  the  proportion  of  things,  and  of  the  harmony 
of  colors.  We  have  only  to  look  at  the  teeth  people 
often  wear  to  notice  that  this  is  not  very  often  the 
case.  It  must  be  remembered  that  in  nature  there  is 
a  great  beauty  in  the  irregularities,  in  what  is  often 
called  the  ugliness  of  shape  and  color.  Because  an 
even  row  of  very  white  teeth  is  the  ideal,  it  does  not 
prove  that  such  teeth  suit  everybody.  What  can  be 
more  ghastly  than  an  old,  decrepit  personage,  with  a 


S8  THE   RISE,    FALL   AND   REVIVAL 

bad  complexion,  who  wears  a  double  row  of  splendid 
white  teeth  ?  What  is  more  ridiculous  than  one  white, 
spotless  artificial  tooth  standing  in  the  midst  of  yellow 
and  partially  decayed  real  teeth?  Or,  again,  what  a 
lob-sided  effect  is  produced  if  natural  teeth  on  one 
side  of  the  mouth  grew  irregularly,  while,  on  the 
other  side  artificial  teeth  have  been  fixed  up  in  regi- 
mental order.  Yet  how  few  people  are  there  who, 
having  artificial  teeth,  have  the  good  sense  to  ask 
that  these  teeth  should  be  just  as  imperfect  in  shape, 
position  and  color  as  the  real  teeth  were,  they  are 
destined  to  replace? 

If  we  have  not  ideal  teeth,  the  probabilities  are 
that  there  are  many  other  things  in  feature  and  com- 
plexion which  also  are  far  from  being  ideal.  And 
the  introduction  of  one  or  more  ideal  teeth,  where  the 
surroundings  are  anything  but  ideal, is  no  improvement. 
It  creates  a  discordant  note,  destroys  the  hormony 
which  prevails  even  in  ugliness,  and  renders  that 
ugliness  more  evident  and  more  unpleasant.  But  it 
requires  a  high  conception  of  true  art  to  thoroughly 
appreciate  these  principles  and  apply  them  success- 
fully in  practice.  It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  to 
find  that  distinguished  dentists  are  the  constant  and 
appreciated  friends  of  men  of  art  and  letters. 

Nothing   but  careful  study  and  experience  can 


RL-AXE     I 


Specimens   of   Moder-q    Der\tal   Art. 

(Copynghied.) 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  9I 


develop  the  artistic  sense  to  a  degree  that  will  enable 
one  to  forecast  the  shades  of  expression  that  it  may 
be  desirable  to  give  the  patient  by  well-considered 
alteration  in  the  length  and  edge-shape  of  an  oral 
tooth  or  teeth. 

In  short,  he  must  be  as  Dr.  Marshall  says: 
''Thoroughly  conversant  with  physics,  with  mechanics 
and  with  metallurgy.  He  must  acquire  a  delicacy  of 
touch  and  a  manipulative  skill  of  the  very  highest 
order;  his  eye  must  be  trained  to  a  keen  perception 
of  form,  color  and  harmony,  and  his  hand  to  execute 
the  thoughts  of  his  brain:  in  other  words,  he  must 
be  an  artisan,  artist  and  physician  all  in  one.'* 


Conclusion 


In  the  last  few  years  many  women  were  initiated 
into  the  scientific  mysteries  of  dentistry,  and  this 
profession  is  prominent  among  the  many  new  occu- 
pations opened  to  women.  In  keeping  with  the 
enlightened  spirit  of  the  age,  the  question  of  sex  in 
labor  is  being  lost  sight  of,  in  the  vast  more  impor- 
tant consideration  of  the  quality  of  labor.  It  is  the 
work  per  se,  not  the  work  per  sex  that  is  command- 


THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 


ing  the  attention  of  an  educated  and  discriminating 
public.  The  question  naturally  arises,  is  woman 
fitted  for  this  new  field  ?  Is  she  endowed  by  nature 
with  those  qualifications  necessary  for  the  labor  in 
the  vocations,  is  she  physically  and  intellectually 
adopted,  and  can  she  attain  proficiency  in  mechan- 
ical skill  and  mathematical  precision.  These  quest- 
ions are  open  to  debate  yet,  if  we  permit  the  general 
public  to  be  the  jury  and  allow  the  suffering  masses^ 
who  have  received  professional  care  at  the  woman's 
hand,  to  plea,  I  am  confident  that  the  decision  would 
be  a  general  and  grand  triumph  for  the  ladies  of  our 
profession. 

The  following  sentiment  on  this  interesting  sub- 
ject from  the  Dental  Cosmos  is  fully  corroborated 
by  the  liberal  representations  of  our  profession: 
"The  time  has  long  since  passed",  says  the  editor, 
Dr.  Edward  Kirk,  "when  the  availability  and  fitness 
of  woman  for  the  practice  of  dentistry  can  be 
successfully  questioned,  and  whatever  may  have 
been  the  difference  of  opinion  as  to  her  qualifica- 
tions, both  physical  or  mental,  for  this  work  when 
measured  by  the  standard  of  male  requirements,  the 
fact  remains  that  in  dentistry,  as  in  all  branches  of 
the  great  healing  art,  woman  has  found  and  success- 
fully occupied  a  field  of  usefulness  in  which  the  sum 


OF    DENIAL    PROSTHESIS  93 

total  of  those  distinctively  feminine  qualities,  which 
go  to  make  up  an  ideal  womanhood,  have  been  in- 
valuable, and  are,  after  all,  the  essential  factors  of 
her  success  in' these  departments.  The  question", 
continues  the  editor,  "is  not  whether  she  is  capable 
of  doing  her  work  from  a  man's  standpoint  and  by 
masculine  methods,  but,  is  there  a  sphere  of  useful- 
ness in  our  profession  which  she  can  pursue  and 
properly  fill  by  virtue  of  her  womanhood,  and 
achieve  success  as  woman?  The  affirmation  of  this 
has  been  demonstrated  by  experience  and  we  believe 
that  the  ennobling  influence  of  her  activities  in 
dentistry  will  be  increasingly  felt  in  the  course  of 
time  to  the  whole  dental  profession." 

In  this  memorable  American  year  1892,  the 
Women's  Dental  Association  was  organized  in 
Philadelphia,  and  like  the  many  similar  organizations, 
its  object  is  to  promote  the  professional  interests  of 
its  members,  through  the  advantages  which  associa- 
tion confers. 

In  consequence  of  the  liberal  advantages  offered 
in  dentistry  to  artists,  scientists  and  students,  we  to- 
day, as  a  profession,  stand  almost  alone  in  the  re- 
alization of  our  imaginings,  the  equal  of  any,  the 
superior  of  almost  any  other  specialty  in  point  of 
success.     But  because  of  the  fact  we  must  not  permit 


94  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

the  thought  to  become  lethargic  and  assume  an 
attitude  indifferent  to  our  surroundings.  For,  if  we 
stop  to  sleep,  others  with  that  assiduity  of  purpose 
and  labor  will  excell  us  in  their  persuits,  while  we 
then  will  assume  a  position  of  mediocrity.  Man  is  too 
often  deluded  with  false  ideas  of  greatness:  to  cease 
to  labor  is  a  dead-lock  to  progress,  and  to  stop  think- 
ing but  another  form  or  name  for  imbecility.  During 
the  last  two  decades,  the  improved  methods,  larger 
range,  and  more  exact  style  of  inquiry,  and  the  as- 
sistance and  hints  which  one  branch  of  study  has 
given  to  others  has  produced  the  most  satisfactoy 
results.  The  inquiries  are  not  yet  complete,  they 
seem  on  the  contrary  to  have  only  commenced,  and 
promise  ultimately  to  satisfy  all  the  useful  purposes 
and  legitimate  curiosity  of  the  many  lookers  on. 

Kind  advice  can  be  found  in  Dr.  John  S. 
Marshall's  address  recently  delivered  before  a  class 
of  dental  students,  he  said:  "Knowledge  proved  and 
classified  becomes  science.  The  sciences  underlie 
the  intelligent  practice  of  all  the  professions;  conse- 
quently, to  be  educated  for  a  profession  means,  that 
you  shall  have  knowledge  of  those  sciences  upon 
which  it  is  based,  and  upon  which  it  must  depend  for 
its  intelligent  practice.  The  dental  student  who 
comm-ences  his  practice  with  the  idea  of  obtaining 


OF    DENTAL   PROSTHESIS.  9$ 

his  degree  with  just  as  little  expenditure  of  time  and 
energy  as  is  possible  under  the  rules  of  the  institution 
with  which  he  is  connected,  will  make  a  dismal  fail- 
ure of  both  student  and  professional  life.  Justice 
will  repay  him  in  the  same  coin  to  the  very  last 
decimal,  and  in  the  same  spirit  with  which  they  were 
meeted  out  by  him  during  his  student  days." 

The  doctor  continued  by  saying:  "To  be  suc- 
cessful! in  any  profession  in  these  times,  the  in- 
dividual must  be  well  grounded  in  the  fundamental 
sciences  that  underlie  the  superstructure  of  special 
professional  knowledge:  he  must  begin  at  the  very 
foundation  stones,  and  step  by  step  go  over  every 
principle  taught,  until  he  arrives  at  a  correct  under- 
standing of  their  application  and  their  individual  and 
mutual  relationship  and  dependencies.'* 

Thus,  cherishing  these  well-worded  sentiments, 
and  knowing  full  well  that  you  too,  agree  with  these 
worthy  remarks,  I  began  the  course  in  dental  pros- 
thesis, with  the  study  of  the  subject,  at  the  very 
foundation  stone,  and  step  by  step  have  gone  over 
every  principle  taught. 

To  perfect  yourself  in  this  branch  should  be  an 
upper  thought  of  mind,  and  in  order  to  accomplish 
this,  you  will  have  no  easy  task,  for,  as  Dr.  Harris 
says:     ^* Prosthetic  dentistry  constitutes    by  far   the 


g6  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

largest  and  most  difficult  part  of  dentistry ^  and  this 
makes  it  a  distinct  branch  of  the  Art  of  Medicine, 
a?id  gives  to  it  the  power  to  add,  as  it  does  to  health, 
comfort  and  the  e7ijoyment  of  life^ 

As  regard  the  benefit  derived   from  an  hi  storical 
review  of  dental  prosthesis,    such  as  I  have  earnestly 
endeavored  to  impart,  I  am  of  the  same  mind  as  Dr. 
Patrick,  who  once  said:  "I  have  been  of  the  opinion, 
that  there  is  a  growing  desire  in  our  profession  to  be 
more    conversant   with    the    ancient    as    well   as  the 
modern  history  of  dentistry  in  its  several  departments 
— that   there   is   a  conviction    that    the   literature   of 
dentistry  has  been  neglected.     It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the    time  is    not   far    distant,    when    our    profession 
everywhere,   will  be  convinced   that  the  importance 
of   becoming  more   intimately  acquainted   with   the 
researches    and  views   entertained  on  the  subject  of 
dentistry  by  some   of  the  most  intellectual  men  the 
world  has  ever  produced.     It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
profession  will  see  the  advantages  and  necessity  of  a 
dental  encyclopedia  or  summary  of  dental  knowledge; 
not  a  system,  but  a  work  that  would  rescue  valuable 
purposes  relative   to  dentistry,  that   are  now  resting 
in  comperative    obscurity,   in  the  archives  of  dental 
society,  and  that  are  now  in   a   manner,    lost  to  the 
profession.      One    great    advantage    the   profession 


OF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  97 

would  have  in  the  possession   of  such   a  work,  would 
be,  that  when  a  new  theory  is  advanced,   it  could  be 
tested   by  comparing    it   with  doctrines   of  a    similar 
nature    advanced   in    former    times.     Certainly  every 
age  should  profit  by  the  experience  of  the  preceeding 
one;  but  without  a   record    or    history,   of   what  has 
been  accomplished,    each   investigator   commences  a 
new   series    of    trials,    and    wanders    over    the    same 
ground  in  research   of   truths   which   have    long  ago 
been  discovered  ;    or  adopts  theories  that  have  been 
long  ago  discovered.      The  views  of  our  predecessors 
may  be  justly   regarded  as   beacon  lights,    set    up  to 
guide  our  footsteps  from  pitfalls  of  error  '"' 

One  of  the  most  gratifying  evidences  of  the  pro- 
gress of  modern  dentistry  is  the  ever  incr  easing 
interest  manifested  in  historical  research  and  study 
of  the  various  branches  of  the  science.  The  profes- 
sion is  gradually  comprehending  that  the  proper  wa}' 
to  learn  lessons  of  wisdom  for  the  uncertain  future 
is,  to  give  immediate  attention  to  events  of  the  past. 
All  down  the  '4ong  avenues  of  time"  the  voice  of  the 
departed  are  calling,  giving  us  words  of  warning,  to 
avoid  the  errors  which  wrecked  their  successes  and 
attempts.  But  how  can  we  prevent  a  similar  sad 
fate  for  our  cherished  plans  and  sail  free  from 
threatening  perils  if  we  heed  not  the  advices  of  our 


9S  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 

forefathers,  and  remain  ignorant  of  their  accomplish- 
ments, and  the  general  status  of  our  profession. 

I  confidently  hope  that  those  of  you  who  have 
earnestly  followed  my  remarks,  on  the  Evolution  of 
Dental  Science,  will  have  enjoyed  as  much  pleasure 
and  reaped  a  similar  volume  of  information,  as  I 
have  in  the  compilation  of  these  historic  facts;  and 
I  trust  that  my  words  shall  have  awakened  in  you  the 
latent  admiration  for  the  profession,  that  you  will 
from  now  on  earnestly  and  persistently  labor 
to  ''establish  for  our  chosen  profession  a  land-mark" 
among  all  sciences  and  vocations,  that  future  gener- 
ations, instead  of  yielding  but  reluctant  confidence, 
will  then  pour  forth  a  full  measure  of  respect  and 
devotion.  ^ 


QF    DENTAL    PROSTHESIS.  99 


Valedictory  Remark. 


•The  dental  profession  has  established  and  prolonged 
the  reign  of  beauty;  it  has  added  to  the  charms 
of  social  intercourse,  and  lent  perfection  to 
the  accents  of  eloquence;  it  has  taken 
from  old  age  its  most  unwelcome 
feature,  and  lengthened  enjoy- 
able human  life  far  beyond 
the  limit  of  the  years 
when  the  toothless 
and  purblind,  pa- 
triarch might 
exclaim: — 
I  have  no  pleasure  in  them." 

Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 


lOO  THE    RISE,    FALL    AND    REVIVAL 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

I.  PROEM  TO  STUDENTS.  3 

II.  ENCOURAGING  WORDS.  5 
111.  INTRODUCTION  TO  LECTURE.  7 
lY.     DENTAL  PROSTHESIS— Definition.  8 

V.     EGYPTIAN  DENTAL   ART.  11 

VI.     HEBREW  DENTAL  ART.  13 

VII.     ARABIAN  DENTAL  ART.  15 

VIII     CHINESE  DENTAL   ART.  17 

IX.     GRECIAN  DENTAL  ART.  19 

X.     ROMAN  DENTAL  ART.  21 

XI.     ETRURIAN  DENTAL   ART.              '  34 

XH.     EUROPEAN  DENTAL  ART.  40 

XIII.  AMERICAN  DENTAL  ART.  56 

XIV.  CONCLUSION.  91 
XV^    VALEDICTORY  REMARK— Holmes.  99 

XVI.     INDEX.  101 

PLATES.-DENTAL  'SPECIMENS. 

o 

Page. 
Plate      I.     Spei.'imens  of  Ancient  Dental  Art— Frontispiece. 

"        II.     Specimens  of  Mediaeval  Dental  Art.  43 

III.    Specimens  of  Modern  Dental  Art.  89 


INDEX. 


Academy,  French  Science,  1(5 

Aetius  Navius.   17 

Advertiser  Dental,  77 

Albaeasis,  17 

Alcock   64 

Allen,  66 

Allport,  81,  8-2 

Amalgan  Etrurian,  S8 

American  Dental  Art,  56 

"      Assoc,  7r,,  77 

Ancient  Dent,    proven,  31,  32 

Anthony  Saint,  22 

Apollonia  Saint.  22 

Apollo,  81 

Arabian  Maxim,  7 

"      Dental  Art,  17 

Argns,  27 

Aristotle,  20 

Art,  American  Dental,  56 
"    Arabian  "        17 

''    Chinese,  "        15 

"    Dental,  lost,  40 
"  "       origin,  11 

"  Egyptian  Dental,  11 
"  European  "  46 
"  Etrurian  "  35 
*'  Grecian  "  20 
'*    Hebrew,       *'       14, 15 


"     Roman,  Dental,  21 
Artifi.  Dentures;  Bone,  17,  61 
"  "  Gold,  69 

''  "  Iron,  58 

Wood,  1> 
'    Teeth,  American,  53 
"      Arabian,  17 
Bone,    55,  67 
Brass,  12 
"        Chinese.  16 
"        Ebony,  48 
Egyptian,  12 
"        "        Kuropean,  46 
"        Etrurian,  35 
"        "        Hebrew,  14 
"        "        Human.  17 
"        "        Horn,  67 
"         "       Ivory,  14,    17,  48, 
55 
Artifi.  Dentures  Ivory,  58,  59, 

60,  67 
Artifi.     Dentures,    Porcelain, 

63,  64 
Association  Dental,  71 

B 

Baltimore  College,  Dental,  76 
Barber,  Oral  Surgeon,  35,  40, 
41,  42,  43,  48 
I  Barrett,  29,  30 


JG2 


TNDE5i, 


Bean,  74 

Belzoni,  20 

Bichat,  46 

Bing,  75 

Blacksmith's  Oi'al    Sorgeons, 

40,  41 
Blake,  46 
Bonwell,  74 
Boice,  74 
Bone  Artiftcial  Teeth,  17,  5", 

61,  67 
Brass  Artificial  Teeth,  12 
Bratti,  41 
Biidge-work,    Hi,    35,    37,  52, 

68,  72,  73,  74,  75, 
British  Museum,  20 
Brophy,  59 
Briarious,  27 
Buttner,  74 


Calcellins,  28 
Canida,  28 
Carman,  74 
Case,  75 
Celhihjid   68 
Celnsns,  28 
Cement,  31 
Cerventes,  49 
Cicero,  19 

Charon,  God,  33,  'M 
Children  iTsculapie,  23 
Chinese  Dental  Art,  15 

Artificial  Teeth,  16 
"        Medical  Scliool,  15 
Clasp  work,  12,  13,  18,  6),  61, 
62 


Clay  Fillings,  20 
College  Dental,  62,  67,  71 
Columbian  Fair,  32 
Continueous  Gum,  67 
Cosmos,  Dental,  4,  77 
Crown-work,    31,    35,    37,   T2, 

73,  74,  75 
Crown  Logan,  52 


Dark  Ages,  Dentistry  in,  40 
Dasti  Sig.  37 
Davis,  74 
Debarre,  54,  55 
DeChamant,  52,  54 
Delphi  Temple  of,  20 
Demetrio,  41 
Demosthenes,  72 
Dental  Advertiser,  77 

''    American  Journal,  75,77 

"    Art  Ameiican,  56 

"       "    Arabian,  17 

"      "    Chinese 

'        "     Egyptian,  11 

•'        '     Etrurian,  34 

"       "    European,  46 

"       "    Grecian,  19 

"      "    Hebrew,  13 

"       "    Origin  of,  11 

•'      "    Roman,  21 

"     Associations,  71 

"      College,  62,  71 

"      Cosmos  77 

"      Dilinltion  of,  8 

"      Derivation  of,  8 

"      Diseases,  30 

"      Depots,  71 


INDEX. 


T03 


Dental  Instruments 
-'      Jnternational  Jour.,  77 
"      Items  of  Interest  Jour- 
nal, 77 

Dental  Journals,  77 

"  "        Advertiser,  77 

"  "        American  77 

"  "        Cosmos,  77 

"  •'        Intern.,  77 

"  "        Items  of  Inter- 

est, 77 

Dental  Journal  Missouri,  77 
"  "      Odontographic, 

77 

Dental      "        Ohio,  77 

"  "       Practitioner,  77 

"        Kegister,  77 
•'  "        Review,  77 

"  "        Southern,  77 

"  "        Tribune,  77 

"        Western,  77 
«'  "        World,  77 

"        Literature,  71 
"        Practitioner,  77 
"        Profession,  10 
"        Prosthesis,  9 

"  Definition, 

10 

Dental  "         Derivation, 

10 

Dental  "        Implication, 

10,  11 

Dental  "       Syntax,  9 

"  "      Syllabication, 

9,  10 

Dental  "  Pronuncia- 

tion, 10 


Dental  Prosthesis,  10,  11 
'•        Rejiister,  17 
"         Reviev^^,  77 
"        Specimens,  29 
"         Surgeon  Barber,  35 
"        Southern  Journal,  77 
"        Tribune  Journal.  77 
"        Western  Journal,  77 
"         Woild  Journal,  77 

Dentist,  American,  56 
"        Barber,  35 

Blacksmith,  40 
Priests,  21 
•  "         Samuel,  14 
"        Talmudical,  14 
"        Etrurian,  36 

Dentistry,  Ancient,  ll 

"  "     Proven,  31,32 

"  "     Lost,  40 

"        In  Dark  Ages,  40 
"        Incorporated,  48,  49 
"        vis  Tonsorial  Art,  48 

Don  Quixote,  48 

Du  Chateau,  54 

Dubois,  54 

Duenna,  48 


Ebony,  Artificial  Teeth,  48 

Eben,  1 

Egle,  28 

Egyptain  Dental  Art,  11 

Egyptian  Exhumations,  12 

"     Gold  Filled  Teeth,  12 

"      Lead     "  "     13 

"      Pharaoh,  13 

"      Teeth,  Artificial,  12 


I04 


INDEX. 


Egyptian  Work,  Clasp,  12 
EJIiot,  41 

Emancipation  of  Slave,  18 
Erasistmtus,  20 
Esculapae  Children,  23 

"        Snakes,  23 
Esciilapius,  19,  21,  22 
Etmrian  Art,  Dental,  34 
"        Dentists  36 

Gilded  Teeth.  35 
"         Mythology,  36 
Enstachius,  46 
Evans,  74 

F 
Fair  Colnmbian,  32 
Fallopius,  46 
Fasten  Teeth  with  Gold,  20 

"     Wedges,  18 
"     Wire,  18 
Felspar,  65 

Filled  Teeth,  Amalgan,  38 
"         "        Cement,  31,  32 

Clay,  20 
"         "        Foil,  20,  28 
Gold,  38,  51 
Filling— Gold,  12,  13 
"  Lead,  13 

Pitch,  16 
Fortes,  38 
1  Folklore  Hebrew,  14 

4  Fox,  46 

3  Foster,  74 
6  Fusel  i,  81 

5  Fiichard,  50,  51 

C 

Galla,  28 
Ganiliel,  14 


Gargantua,  18 
Germ  anus — Saint,  22 
Gilded  Teeth,  Etrurian,  35 

"  "         Roman,  33,  34 

God,  Medicine,  19,  22 
God,  Charon.  33,  34 
Gold  filled  Teeth,  13,  33,  38,  51 
Gold  Plate,  55,  60,  61,  69 
Gold  Wire  Clasp,  18 
Goodyear,  67,  68 
Grecian  Art,  Dental,  19 

"        Dental  Lore,  20 

"        Dentures,  20 

Mytholopy,  33,  34 
Greenwood  Isaac,  57 

"  John,  57,  58.  59 

Gum,  Continuous,  67 
Gutta  Percha,  67 

H 

Haines,  41 

Harris,  50,  75,  76 

Haskell,  4,  67 

Hay,  74  • 

Hebrew  Dental  Art,  14 
"        Folk  Lore,  14 
"        Stave  Eman.,  14 
"        Teeth,  Artificial,  14 

Herbert,  Saint,  22 

Herodotus,  11,  21 

Hippocrates,  21,  23,  24,  25,  26 

Holmes,  99 

Homer,  19 

Horn,  Artificial  Teeth,  67 

Horace,  28 

How,  74 

Hunter,  46,  49,  59,  61,  74 

Hippopotamus  Ivoiy,  53,57,58 


INDEX. 


T05 


I 

Incorporation,  Dentistry,  48,49 
liistrunieiits,  Dental,  29 
International  Journal,  77 
livini?,  6 

Iron,  Artificial  Teeth,  5,  8, 
Items  of  Interest  Journal,  5,77 
Ivory  Artificial  Teeth,  14,  17, 
48,  55,  57,  58,  59,  64,  67 


Jehuha — Saint,  14 

Jewellers,  Prosthetic  Dfiutists, 
40,  41,  42,  4d,  49 

Job,  79 

Johnson,  Luiid  &  Co.,  66 

Josephe,  70 

Journals,  Dental,  77 

"  "        First,  75 

'*  "      American,  75 

"  "        Ohio,  77 

Justi,  H.  D.,  65 

"      Dental  MTg  Co.,  60 


Kavlin,  65 
Kirk,  92 

L 

Lagana,  23 

Lafayette,  56 

Land,  74 

Law,  Moses  Famous,  13 

Lawrence,  74 

Lead  Artificial  Teeth,  15 

Lead  Fillings,  13 

Leech,  74 

Lelius,  28 


Le  Maire,  56 

Ligatures  to  Teeth,  13,  18 

Literature  Dental,  71 

Lincoln,  81 

Logan,   52,  74 

Louis,  XIV.,  48 

Lost  Art,  Dentistry,  40 

Lund,  Johnson  &  Co.,  60 

M 

Macley,  58 
Marcus — Saint,  22 
Martial,  28 
Marshall  91,  94 
Mastic-wood,  17,  18 
Medical  School  12.  15 

"        Temple,  22,  23,  36 
Medicine  God  of,  19,  22 

"        Science,  21 
Melott,  75 
Mesne,  50 
Metrodorous,  26 
Millstones,  Teeth,  13 
Missouri,  Dent,  Journal,  77 
Mohammed,  18 
Monkey's  Tooth,  18 
Mofendate,  73 
Moses,  Famous  Law,  13 
Mouth  Pillars  of  Law,  17 
Mythology,  Grecian,  33,  84 
"        Etrurian,  36 
"        Roman,  33,  34 
Mummy,  Royal,  12,  13 


Odontographic  Journal,  77 
Ohio  Journal,  77 


PORCELAIN  TEETH. 


Tlie  1800  molds  in  constant  use  in  our  manufactory  afford 
an  extent  and  variety  of  forms  of  Porcelain  Teeth  unapproached 
elsewhere 

Practically  they  reproduce  infinite  variations  of  nature's 
forms,  meeting  every  requirement  of  the  dentist,  every  need  of 
the  patient,  whether  from  the  stand-point  of  usefulness  or  of 
esthetics 

r'ases  requiring  the  substitution  of  either  a  partial  or  an 
entire  denture  which  cannot  be  supplied  from  our  stock  are  so 
rai'e  as  to  be  unknown. 


FACTS  AND  INFERENCE. 


It  is  a  fact  that  the  instruments  and  appliances  used  in 
dentistry  should  be  the  best  obtainable. 

It  is  a  fact  that  goods  which  bear  S.  S.  W.  surpass  all 
others  in  quality. 

It  is  a  fact  that  no  other  house  makes  every  appliance  us(h1 
in  dental  practice. 

The  inference  is  that  dentists  and  dentaj  students  sliould 
select  their  outfits  from  our  stock. 


TBE  S.  S.  WHITE  DENTAL  HF'G  CO. 

Manufacturers,  Importers  and  Dealers  in 

Dentists  Supplies, 

PHILADELPHIA,       NEW  YORK,        CHICAGO, 

BOSTON,  BROOKLYN, 

ATLANTA. 


'•The  ^aqd  that  follows  intellect  caq  acl^ieve." 


ftslorf  fl[  lli8  Scilor  afll  Mari 

Is  well  known  to  all,  but  in  illustration  of  our  subject 
will  bear  repetition: 


IlEUE  was  a  poor  Artist,  gifted  with  the 
[i^  tire  of  genius  and  a  great  desire  to  become 
famous  He  gave  to  the  study  of  sculpture 
his  entire  attention,  \vorlN;ing  faithfully 
early  and  late  in  his  little  studio,  training 
^^his  eye  and  hand,  perfecting  himself  in 
.  carving  and  reproducing  objects  in  marble. 
uI^V  At  last  he  decided  to  carve  a  statue  so  beau- 
tiful and  perfect  that  it  should  be  his 
masterpiece.  The  model  chosen  was  a 
beautiful  woman  He  produced  a  block 
of  pm-e  white  marble  and  bent  all  his  mind 
and  energy  to  expre^^s  his  lofty  ideal,  care- 
fully chiseling  out  each  ciu've  of  the  body,  each  lineament  of 
the  face,  until  his  work  was  completed,  so  perfect  that  it 
only  needed  the  breath,  the  tints  of  flesh,  to  give  it  life. 
'1  his  made  him  famous;  his  work  was  finished  so  true  to  life, 
the  workl  proclaimed  him  the  greatest  artist  of  he  age. 
It  was  the  result  of  genius  and  intellect  combined. 

In  much  the  same  way  has  iMr.  Justi  perfected  the  manu- 
facture of  Porcelain  Teeth.  He  has  studied  the  subject  from 
an  artist's  stand  point,  beginning  at  foundation  principles, 
imitating  Nature  in  her  various  forms,  following  each  little 
detail  so  accurately  that  to  day  Justi's  Teeth  stand  preeminent 
as  the  mu^t  perfect  artistic  Artificial  Teeth  in  the  world. 


H.D,  JUSTI  &  SON 

Philadelphia.    ^   Chicago. 


THE  WILMINGTON  EENTAL^^' 
7 MANUFACTllBM  GO. 


PHILADELPHIA,        NEW  YORK,        CHICAGO, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C„  WILMINGTON  Del. 


Manufacturers  of,  and  Dealers  in 

DENTAL  SUPPLIES  OF  ALL  KINDS 


-AND- 


NIMITABLE 
PORCELAIN  TEETH. 


■s. 


Stadents'  Outfits  a  Specialty. 


Publishers  "ITEMS  OP  INTEREST", 

ONLY  $  1 .00  PER  YBAB. 


WESTERN  DEPOT: 

•    •    •   •    78  STATE  STREET. 

CHICAGO,   ILL, 

11.  C.  CORNELL,  Manager. 


REMOVABLE  PIN  CROWN. 


Patented,  Feb.  25, 1890. 


The  REMOVABLE   PIN  CROWN   possesses    distinct  features  of 
great  advantage  over  the  Tooth  crowns  previously  offered  the  profession. 
The  new  characteristics  and  main  advantages  are  obtained  by  the  pro- 
duction of  a  Crown  having  a  readily  detachable  pin,  yet  capable  of  easy 
and  permanent  fastening. 

It  consists  as  shown  by  cut  A.  of  a  porcelain  Crown 
having  a  threaded  socket,  1,  to  which  is  fitted  a  corres- 
pondingly threaded  silver  pin,  II. 

The  advantages  thus  gained  are  obvious. 
Perfect  freedom  in  grinding  and  fitting  the  crown  to 
I  root  whilst  pin  is  detached,  as  shown  in  cut  B,  without  the 
I      A     II  difficulties  heretofore  experienced  by  interference  with  the 
stationary  pin. 
No  liability  whatever  of  breaking  the  Crown,  in  bending  or  fitting^ 
the  pin,  which  is  also  free  to  manipulate  a* 
desired. 

By  the  use  of  a  SILVER  PIN  a  gain  of 
much  importance  is  made  in  strength  in  the 
^  completed  Crown,  as  any  likelihood  of  its  ben- 
ding out  of  position  after  setting  intberootis 
B  overcome. 

The  Removable  Pin  Crown  la  made  of  the  same  strength  as  the  John- 
son &  Lund  Artificial  Teeth,  and  is  beyond  question  the  STRONGEST 
TOOTH  CROWN  OFFERED. 

DIRECTIONS  FOR  USE. 
Remove  Pin  from  Crown  by  unscrewing,  grind  Crown  to  fit  root  and 
prepare  pin. 

When  ready  to  insert  for  permanence,  fill  the  threaded  socket  in  the 
Crown  with  Onyx  Cement  mixed  to  the  consistency  of  cream,  screw  the 
pin  into  it  and  remove  the  excess  that  exudes. 

When  set  it  will  be  perfectly  firm  and  ready  for  adjustment  in  the 
usual  wav. 

PRICE  EACH,        ....       THIRTY  CENTS. 
MANUFACTURED  BY 

oroHiiDsrsoJsr  sz:  i-.xjisrx>. 


620  RACE  STREET, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


BRANCH  HOUSE: 

514  WABASH  AVENUE, 

CHICAGO. 

For  sale  by  our  depots  and  agents  generally.  If  they  can  not  be 
obtained  from  the  depot  you  are  patronizing  write  to  us,  and  we  will 
supply  or  direct  \  oi  where  they  can  be  purchased. 


Take  Notice. 


$ 


I  We  have  establisFjed   iq  tl^is  "THE  | 

I  WORLD'S  FAIR  CITY;'  aq  establis^rrjent  | 

^  for  the  maqufacture  of   FINE   DENTAL   IN-  ^ 

I  STRUMENTS.  | 

S  We  n^ake  a  specialti)  of  origiqal  designs  c^, 

g  for  College  students  aqd   are   prepared   to  g 

§  execute  all  such  orders  with  dispatch,     Our  ® 

^  worknqeq  have  l^ad  n^aqy   years  experieqce  ® 

@  in  the  Dental  liqe  and  we  guarantee   satis-  S 

^  faction   in     all     brandies.       We    also    pay  § 

3)  special    atteqtioq    to   repair  work,    leaving  § 

f  merited  ti^e  esteenn  of  th[e  profession.  1 

'§  We  solicit  a  trial   order  from  each   one  ^ 

(©  ,  (© 

^  reading  tlqis  notice.  ® 

I  U.  S.  DENTAL  MEG.  CO.  | 

I 


MITCHELL'S 

DENTAL  CHEiSf  BY  iUETALlDM 


From  the  Dental  Cosmos: 

"A  work  which  will  teach  chemistry  iu  such  a  manner  that  it  may  be 
learned  logically  —  one  which  is  clear  in  its  statements  so  that  no  con- 
clusion exists  as  to  the  author's  meaning,  one  which  creates  an  interest 
in  chemical  science  at  the  start  and  maintains  it  throughout,  and 
especially  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  dental  student  and  practitioner  — 
has  long  been  a  desideratum  These  requirements  seems  to  be  fully  met 
in  the  work  under  consideration 

"The  work  throughout  bears  evidence  that  it  was  written  for  the 
express  purpose  which  its  title  indicates,  and  is  replete  with  information 
which  should  be  at  the  command  of  every  dentist.  The  author  is  entitled 
to  the  thanks  of  dental  profession  for  putting  into  such  accessible  and 
attractive  form  eo  much  valuable  material  which  is  not  otherwise  readily 
obtainable.'" 


One  Vol.,  8mo.  Cloih,  420  pp.,  $2.50;  Leather,  $3.50. 


El.    H.   GOLRQROVK, 

PUBLISHERS 

96  WASHINGTON  STREET,     -     CHICAGO-  ILL. 


■ °"-S]     THE    1=3    "' 

AMERICAN  COLLEGE 


Oi^ 


DENTALSURGERY 

479  Wabash  Ave.,  Chicago. 


NEW  MANAGEMENT!  NEW  FACULY!  NEW  LOCATION! 


JOHN  S.  MARSHALL,  M.  D.,  Dean, 
Professor  Oral  Surgery  and  Pathology. 

L.  C.  INGERSOLL,  A.  M.,D.  D.  S., 
Professor  Dental  Materia  Medica. 

R.  F.  LUDWIG,  D.  D.  S., 

Professor  Clinical  Operative  Dentistry. 

E.  L.  CL1FF0RP,D.  D.  S., 
Professor  GenM  Matria  Medica  and  Therapeut    -> 

I.  B.  CRISSMAN,  D.  D.  S. 

Professor  Operati\e  Dentistry. 
B.  J.  CIGRAND,  B.  S.,  D.  D.  S., 
Professor  Prosthetic  Dentistry. 

Mies  VI  DA  ANNETTE  LATH  AM,  D.D.     ., 

Professor  Histology  and  Bacteriology. 

Dr.  M.  J.  LOSSING, 

Superintendent  Infirmary. 

H.  B.  HARRISON,  A.  B.,  M.  D., 

Professor  Chemistry. 

WELLER  VAN  HOOK,   M.    D., 

Professor  General  Surgeiy. 

GEO.  LEININGER,  M.  D., 

Professor  Anaesthesia. 

T.  B.  WIGGIN,  M.  D., 

Professor  Physiology. 

W.  M.  TANqUARY,  M.  D., 

Professor  Anatomy. 

H.  D.  COGHLAN,  B.  A.,  L.  L.  D., 

Professor  Medical  Jurisprudence. 

This  school  has  a  three-year  graded  course;  large 
clinical  faculties. 

For  further  Information  address 

J.  S.  MARSHALL,  Dean. 
THEO.    MENGES*Secv. 


CHICAGO    ILLINOIS, 


STUDENTS  SHOULD  READ: 

THE  DENTAL  COS/nOS 

Address:  —  Cbeslnut  St.,  cor.  Twelfth,  Pliiladelphia. 


THE  DENTAL  REVIEW 

Address:  —  66  Madison  St.,  Chicago. 


ITE/nS  or  INTEREST 

Address:  —  78  State  Sr..,  Chicago, 


INTERNATIONAL  DENTAL  JOURNAL 

Address:  —  3c43  Chestnut  St.,  Philadelphia. 


DENTAL  PRACTITIONER  AND  ADVERTISER 

Address  :  —  587  Main  St.,  Buffalo,  N 


ODONTOGRAPMIC  dOURNAL 

Address :  —  Eochester,  N  .  Y. 


OHIO  dOURNAL  or  DENTAL  SCIENCE 

Address :  —  Toledo,  Ohio. 


DENTAL  OrriCE  AND  LABORATORY 

Address:  — 620  Rice  St.,  Philadelphia. 


DENTAL  REGISTER 

Address:  —  122  W.  7tli  St.,  Cinciucati,  Ohio. 


WESTERN  DENTAL  dOURNAL 

Address:  —  900  Brand  Ave,,  Kansas  City,  Mo 


TME  DENTAL  TRIBUNE  (WEEKLY) 

Address:  —  Masonic  Temple,  Chicago. 


TEXAS  DENTAL  dOURNAL. 

Address:  —  Dallas,  Texas. 


DO'niNlON  DENTAL  JOURNAL 

Address:  —  47  Miron  Ave.,  Montreal,  Can. 


DENTAL  AND  SURGICAL  AlCROCOS/n 

Address:  —  1208  Wabash  Ave.,  Chicago. 


Dental  Jurisprudence, 

By  W.  F.  REHFUSS,  JD.  D.  S.,  of  Philadelphia. 

Price,  bouud  iu  Cloth  (^poet-paid),  $:2.L0;  tlalf  Morocco,  13.30. 

567  Useful  Hints  for  the  Busy  Dentist. 

By  \V.  U.  STEELE,  D.  D.  S. 

Price,  bouud  in  Cloth  (poet-paid),  $2.50. 


Anatomy  of  the  Human  Teeth, 


By  G.  V.  BLACK,  M.  D.,  D.  D.  S.     Second  Edition. 

Price,  hound  in  Cloth  (post-paid),  $2.50. 


The  Student's  Manual  and 

Hand-book  for  the  Dental  Laboratory. 

By  L.  P.  HASKELL,  D.  D.   S.     Second  Edition. 

Bouud  in  Cloih  (post-paid),  $1.50. 


Chart  of  the  Typical  Forms  of 
Constitutional  Irregularities  of  the  Teeth. 

By  EUGENE  S.  TALBOTT,  M.  D.,  D.  D.  S. 

16  lithographic  platee,  9\9  inches.     Price,  $2.00. 

Dental  Science. 

Questions   and  Answers   on  Dental  Materia  Medica,  Dental  Phy- 
siology, Dental  Pathology  and  Therapeutics.  « 
ByLUMAN  C.  INGERSOLL,  A.  M.,  D.  D.  S.     Second-Edition, 

Price,  bouud  in  Cloth  (post-paid),  I2.C0. 


Letters  from  a  Mother  to  a  Mother  on 
the  Formation,  Growth  and  Care  of  Teeth. 

By  the  wife  of  a  dentist,  Mrs.  M.  W.  J.    Third  Edition. 

Price,  bouud  in  Cloth,  50c;  Paper  2cc. 


Some  Plain  Facts  Regarding  the  Teeth. 

By  T.  B.  WELCH,  M.  D. 

Sample  copies,  6c;  100,  $3.50;  .500,  S15.00;  1000,  $25.00. 


How  to  Save  your  Teeth. 

Price:  Sample  copies,  3c;  500,  $3.50;  1000,  $5.00. 
Address:  — 

THE  WILMINGTON  DENTAL  IVI'F'G  CO, 

1413  Filbert  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


TneHflsliellPost-GraiJiiateScliODl 


OF 


Prosthetic  Dentistry, 

211  WABASH   AVKXUK. 


L.  P.  HASKELL,  President.  CHICAGO 

A.  i^l.  MAKKl.E,  Secretary.  K^±xx\^jr^^\^ , 


Tliis  school,  Avitli  a  large  and  well  equipped  Laboratory, 
including  Electric  Motor  for  its  Lathes,  is  open  every  month, 
EXCEPT  SEPTEMBER,  and  Students  may  enter  at  any  time. 

Instruction  given  in  all  that  pertains  to  Prosthetic  Dentistry, 
including  CROWN  AND  BRIDGE  WORK,  CONTINUOUS 
GUM  WORK,  AND  PORCELAIN  INLAYS. 

One  month  of  technical  instruction  under  the  personal 
supervision  of  PROF.  HASKELL  and  assistants,  has  been 
found  sufficient  time  for  these  specialties . 

TUITION   FIFTY  DOLLARS 

The  LABORATORY  is  prepared  to  construct  Dentures  of 
all  kinds  in  the  most  finished  manner  for  the  Profession.  Send 
for  the  Price  List. 

This  is  the  first  Post  Graduate  School  in  dentistry  ever 
established;  and  that  it  has  achiurd  chieved  a  reputation  is 
shown  by  these  extracts : 

"I  want  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  work  j'our  ecliool  is 
doing  for  the  profession  and  of  Dr.  Haekell's  ability  to  impart  instrnc 
tion/'  E.  B.  S.,  Texas. 

"I  consider  a  cour.-e  of  instruction  in  your  School  essential  to  a 
dental  education."  T.  B.,  Indiana. 

"I  can  freely  recommend  your  School.  Its  methods  and  system  of 
teaching  are  good."  W.  S.  F.,  Michigan. 


In  Press. 
METHODS  OF  FILLING  TEETH. 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF   PRACTICAL  METHODS  WHICH 
WILL  ENABLE   THE   STUDENT  AND  PRAC- 
TITIONER OF   DENTISTRY   SUCCESS- 
FULLY TO  PREPARE  AND  FILL 
ALL  CAVITIES  IN  HUMAN 
TEETH. 


By  RODRIQUES  OTTOLENGVl,  M.  D.  S. 


With  Two-Hundred  <and  Thirty-Six  illustrations. 

The  S.  S.  WHITE  DENTAL  MF'G  CO., 

Philadelphia,  New  York,  Bostop,  Chicago,  Brooklyn,  Atlanta. 


I       LEE  FELLOWS,  President  and  Manager. 
H.  K.  SrRICKLER,  SecV. 


^\c»«  -=^.r^  9  Co 

>^  Manufacturers  and  Dealers  in  all  kinds  of  * 

©eiptal  *  ff  atemal  *  IrpatFumei^ts 

AND  FURNITURE, 


90  State  Street.  CHICAGO,  ILL. 

TELEPHONE  2540. 


The  Dental  Tribune, 

LOUIS  OTTOFY,  D.  D.  S  ,  EDITOR. 

A  NEWSPAPER  I  DENTISTS 

Issued  every  Saturday. 


Send  ii>2.00,  amonnt  of  suliscriDtiofl  to  JaDiiar7  Isl  1 894. 


A  newsy,  catchy  sheet,  which  will  bring  you  all  the  in- 
formation regarding  dentists,  the  World's  Fair  and  the  greatest 
of  all  great  dental  events,  the  AVorld's  Columbian  Dental  Con- 
gress of  1893. 

Address: 

THE  DENTAL  TRIBUNE, 

I2  20  Masonic  Temple,  Chicago. 


Dental  Science, 

QUESTIONS  and  ANSWERS. 


.By  L.  C.  Ingersoll,  A.  M.,  D.  D.  S. 

niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

f 

I  BOOK  FOR  STIJDEMS. 

Published  by  the  Wilmington  Dental  Manufacturing  Company 
PHILADELPHIA  and  CHICAGO. 


IN  PRESS, 


Dllllflrl's  ftmA  of  Recilatlois 

Materia  Medica,  Pharmacy    o    •    o    • 
o    •    o    •    o    •    and  Theraputics, 


WILL   BE  READY   EARLY   IN    OCTOBER; 


Compiled  with  a  view  of  introducing  the  Recitation  System  in  these 

scieaces,  and  as  a  ready  reference  work  for  practitioners 

and  students. 


M.  H.  KAUFFMAN,  iedical  Publishing  Co., 

340--344   DEARBORN   STREET, 
Chicaa;o,  IN. 


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^^F.  M.  MORRIS, 

73   Madison  Street,  > Chicago, 


Index  to  the  Periodical  Literatare 


of  Dental  Science  and  Art, 


(As  represented  in  the  Euglish  language.) 
r,v  J.  TAFT,  M.  D.,  D.  D.  S., 


In  one  large  volume  coutaiuing  iipwardB  of  250  pages  (Octavo.) 

rf=iic5e:  in  cdloth  32. oo 


BLAKISTON  SON  &.  CO., 

PHILADELPHIA,  PENIs. 

INDEX  TO  DENTAL  COSMOS. 


This  volume  coutains  a  complete  index   of    all    the  many  valuable 
subjects,  which  have  been  treated  in  the  Dental  Cosmos. 

Neither  Studeul  nor  Practitioner  shonld  do  T^itliout  it. 
Price    in    Cloth   $1.25. 

Address: 

S.S.White  Dental.  M'fg.Co., 

NEW  YORK,  BOSTON,  CHICAGO,  ATLANTA. 

THE  DENTAL  LABORATORY. 

A  Manual  of  Gold  and  Silver  Plate  Work 

for 

DENTAL  SDfiSTITOlES,  CEOWNS  etc., 

Eegitlatiiig  Appliances  for  Irregular  Teetli,  Kepairiiig,  etc.,  to 
which  is  added  Manipulations  in  Vulcanite  and  Celluloid,  La- 
boratory Hints,  Suggestions,  Fixtures,  etc. 
— By — 

Theodore  F.  Chapin,  D.D.S.  Philadelphia,   Pa. 
JOHNSON  &  LUND. 


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NO.  171  MADISON  STREET, 

CHICA<30.    It.1.. 


ITV   Ff^ESjS*. 


'lie  Story  of  tie  Great  Seal 

OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 

OR 

Our  Nation's  Mark. 


Embracing  its  History  and  Heraldry,  and  its  signification  to 

tlie  '  Great  People"  Sealed. 

BY 

B.  J.  CIGRAND,  B.  S.,  D.  D.  S., 

Author  of  "TA€  Bise,  Fall  arid  Revival  oj  Dtntal  Prosthesis.'''' 


The  following  testimonials  from  those  who 

read   but  VI  chapters,    (the  book  will   contain 

XXIII)  of  the  rough  manuscript:  — 

■  **Yoti  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  facts  and  information  on 
a  subject  highly  interesting:  many  historians  have  failed  in  this 
attempt,  and  among  those  are  e.ninent  writers." 

Benson  J.  Lossing 

•'Send  us  a  serial,  on  the  same  subject,   I   will  promise  it  an 
early  publication".  Educational  Journal . 

(over 


"We  would  like  the  matter  as  a  serial ;  state  your  price  and 
oblige.  Illustrated  American. 

"It  is  replate  with  man}-  facts  now  awaiting  their  first  pre- 
sentation to  the  public."  Gen,  C.  A.  I'otten,  U.  S.  Army. 

"I  look  forward  with  much  pleasure  to  reading  your  boolv: 
I  admire  the  frank,  independent  and  open  tone  of  your  compo= 
sition".  —  Theo.  J.  Pickett,  Esq.,  Wash.,  D.  C\ 

"Patience,  industry  and  studiousness,  alone  could  not  write 
the  booli  and  make  it  attractive  and  valuable:  it  being  a  patrio- 
tic subject  it  fouiui  nothing  wanting  in  its  author. 

Martin  J.  Williston.  A,  M ,  I).  I). 

"This  book  will,  and  must  find  its  way  to  every  hearth  ij) 
our  land.  It  will  be  a  right  good  companion  to  any  American 
historical  volume.  C.  L.  MJcUson,  (Jhic.  Puh,,  Lib. 

"When  you  ■  book  is  issued,  notify  us  at  once." 

TF/.s'C.  Hist.  Society. 

"  We  have  examined  the  papers  with  great  interest  and  would 
be  pleased  to  arrange  for  publication  '        The  Uentury  Mag. 

"1  have  looked  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  M.  S.  S  ,  pnd 
find  the  article  highly  interesting,  your  book  will  be  a  valuable 
addition  to  American  History.  I  am  ever  prepared  to  encourage 
such  carefully  prepared  patriotic  works."'  Bish  Sam' I  Fallows 

"All  possible  facilities,  ~  at  the  hands  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment, —  for  research  in  the  interesting  field  you  have  consi- 
dered, have  been  afforded  you."   Ex.  Sec'y  James  G.  Blaine. 

"This  volume  will  be  an  historical  treasure  since  little  or 
nothing  has  ever  been  published  on  this  thoroughly  interesting 
subject."  The  Student. 

"The  new  book  soon  to  be  published  by  Cigrand,  promises 
to  be  highly  interesting  "  ,  Chicago  Herald. 

''The  volume  contains  upwards  of  600  pages 
and  is  graced  with  some  400  rare  and  original 
engravings. 


i!!*yfc=>!r:ta -itS; 


.^^' 


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